http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...674.html?sub=AR

 

I don't like the lobbying reform dying, but disclosing who writes in earmarks is a huge step towards responsibility for some of the crap that gets tacked on to bills. If they could ever get a line item veto to go with this, I would be in love.

I have one word to describe the work on this bill:

 

Obamatastic.

 

Very nice. A step in the right direction.

this is a relief to me.

I have one word to describe the work on this bill:

 

Obamatastic.

 

Interesting for me is it looks like there was a solid bipartisian effort to push this through, and a solid bipartisian effort to kill it.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/c...techtopheds-hed

 

Soon you can follow the pork

 

Published September 13, 2006

 

Did you ever want to follow the money? That is, the billions of dollars collected and spent by the federal government each year? That has been hard for ordinary taxpayers to do, and Congress liked that secrecy just fine. But, miracle of miracles, that's about to change.

 

Soon anyone with a computer will be able to search $1 trillion worth of federal spending on grants, contracts, earmarks and loans. A new law setting up a Google-like search engine for the federal budget (just about everything except entitlement spending on Social Security, Medicare, etc. and covert activities) is expected to be on its way to the president's desk by month's end.

 

By 2008, anyone will be able to search the federal spending database online by congressional district, state, county and city. Citizens will be able to search by recipient--"Boeing" or "Sierra Club," for example. They will be able to search by specific spending program--"highway spending," for example--or by federal agency. By 2009, all subcontract information will be available online too. (That's an area where members of the House and Senate have buried earmarked spending for many pet projects in the past.)

 

This is a shocking turn toward transparency for Congress, which for years has fed off secrecy in everything from lobbying to travel to those notorious earmarks.

 

It would not have come without the dogged efforts of the bill's Senate sponsors, Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois and Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; a campaign from the blogosphere; and a refreshing willingness by House GOP leaders to compromise.

 

Internet bloggers helped to unmask Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who had placed secret "holds" on the bill, hoping to kill it. The senators withdrew their objections, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent Thursday. The House agreed to fast-track the broader Senate bill with some modifications.

 

This is a welcome development for taxpayers, who will get a little more of a fighting chance to hold elected representatives accountable for spending decisions.

Interesting for me is it looks like there was a solid bipartisian effort to push this through, and a solid bipartisian effort to kill it.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/c...techtopheds-hed

And even more interestingly, there was a bipartisan movement on both the left and right sides of the Blogosphere to find out who was trying to stop that Bill in the Senate by putting "Secret Holds" on the bill (turned out to be Byrd and Stevens, who both dropped their holds once they were exposed.)

And even more interestingly, there was a bipartisan movement on both the left and right sides of the Blogosphere to find out who was trying to stop that Bill in the Senate by putting "Secret Holds" on the bill (turned out to be Byrd and Stevens, who both dropped their holds once they were exposed.)

Stevens is the king of pork. No surprise he was one of them.

Stevens is the king of pork. No surprise he was one of them.

 

None at all. I guess his constituants can't say he hasn't done everything to bring home everything he can for them... And that would be about all that I can say for the guy. Also it was no surprise to me that Robert Byrd is the other scumbag holding up this bill.

None at all. I guess his constituants can't say he hasn't done everything to bring home everything he can for them... And that would be about all that I can say for the guy. Also it was no surprise to me that Robert Byrd is the other scumbag holding up this bill.

I don't know as much about Byrd to be honest. I'll take your word for it. Plus, if he was secretly holding this bill back, he is pretty much automatically scummy in my book.

I don't know as much about Byrd to be honest. I'll take your word for it. Plus, if he was secretly holding this bill back, he is pretty much automatically scummy in my book.

Half his damn state is named after him. Robert Byrd Bridge, Robert Bird Parek, etc. If it wasn't for Stevens, nobody would even be close to him. They both stay overtime at the feeding trough.

Half his damn state is named after him. Robert Byrd Bridge, Robert Bird Parek, etc. If it wasn't for Stevens, nobody would even be close to him. They both stay overtime at the feeding trough.

 

If Stevens is the "King of Pork", there isn't an honorific gaudy enough for Byrd.

 

Galactic Emperor of Pork?

If Stevens is the "King of Pork", there isn't an honorific gaudy enough for Byrd.

 

Galactic Emperor of Pork?

 

Isn't "King Of Pork" a reality show on A&E? Or at least, shouldn't it be?

If Stevens is the "King of Pork", there isn't an honorific gaudy enough for Byrd.

 

Galactic Emperor of Pork?

"They call me 'The Pork King,' they don't know how much I enjoy it." - Sen. Robert Byrd