On The Media tries to track down anonymous senator who killed Whistleblower bill

[LMNO]

http://www.whistleblower.org/press/gap-in-the-news/933-on-the-media-npr-whistleblower-update

On December 22nd, in the face of overwhelming bipartisan support, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was killed at the last minute when a mystery Senator placed what's called an anonymous hold on the bill. Tom Devine, of the Government Accountability Project, talks about the killing of the bill, and what you, the listener, can do about it.

Basically, OtM is using crowdsourcing to try and track down who did this.  More info as it develops.

[Cain]

I'm going to, even without reading the article, guess that the Senator in question is a "Blue Dog" Democrat up for election next year and with close ties to certain White House officials.

Why?  Because Obama haet whistleblowers like Bin Laden haet unbelievers, and Blue Dog Democrats not only tend to ideologically align with him on this point, but it also gives them a way to benefit from it, as they can do it in return for heavy support from the President in 2012.

Of course, evidence is nice, and I have none.  But it is interesting NPR dont even bring up the possibility of a Democrat being involved in this.  Yes, Republicans do have previous for using arcane legislative methods to kill bills.  The 108th Congress in particular was notorious for this kind of thing, and Bernie Sanders laid out the problems with it at length in a highly publicized interview with Matt Taibbi.  But that's the problem, it was highly publicized.  Meaning the Democrats know these tricks too.  And Obama's War on Whistleblowers is widely acknowledged as a reality among the civil rights community.

[Adios]

Obama has turned out to be everything I didn't want.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Obama has turned out to be everything I didn't want.

At no extra charge!

[BabylonHoruv]

Anonymous hold?  This sounds like a rather odd thing for senators to be able to do.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

Anonymous hold?  This sounds like a rather odd thing for senators to be able to do.

[Adios]

Anonymous hold?  This sounds like a rather odd thing for senators to be able to do.

Well, they do want to reach across the aisle and sit together.

[the last yatto]

Obama has turned out to be everything I didn't want.

Next time vote Emperor Supreme Roger

Or kill me

[Cramulus]

I am also surprised that senators can act anonymously! What the fuck is the point of having a representative government if your constituents can't tell what you're up to?

[Adios]

I am also surprised that senators can act anonymously! What the fuck is the point of having a representative government if your constituents can't tell what you're up to?

Getting votes?

[Cain]

I am also surprised that senators can act anonymously! What the fuck is the point of having a representative government if your constituents can't tell what you're up to?

Given, at the time, the only models of Republican government the Americans had to go by were the Romans (even more hideously devised for legislative chicanery), the Athenians (Pericles.  Just...Pericles) and the Coriscan Republic (which produced Napoleon as its bitter fruit) it probably seemed like a sensible idea with few downsides.

[Jenne]

Yeah, but it's a bullshit move.  I didn't know they could do this.  What a crock of shit.

[LMNO]

Update: All but 4 senators have confirmed they did NOT kill the bill.  The 4 are:

Jon Kyl (R-AZ) 202-224-4521
Jeff Sessions (R-AL) 202-224-4124
James Risch (R-ID) 202-224-2752
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541

Who would have thought it would be a Republican... 

Anyway, if anyone here lives in one of those states wants to give them a call and bug them about it, please do.



Note: The above phone numbers are to their offices in DC, and are part of the public record.  I don't consider it personal information.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Update: All but 4 senators have confirmed they did NOT kill the bill.  The 4 are:

Jon Kyl (R-AZ) 202-224-4521
Jeff Sessions (R-AL) 202-224-4124
James Risch (R-ID) 202-224-2752
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541

Who would have thought it would be a Republican... 

Anyway, if anyone here lives in one of those states wants to give them a call and bug them about it, please do.



Note: The above phone numbers are to their offices in DC, and are part of the public record.  I don't consider it personal information.

My money says Kyl.  He's the biggest whore in the legislature.

[Jasper]

That is saying something.