Smoke Out the Secret Hold!

A progressive group called the Sunlight Foundation is working to make campaign finances more transparent by mandating electronic filing of Senate finance campaign reports. After seven years of languishing in Republican-controlled committees, Senators Feinstein and Feingold managed to pass the legislation and bring it to the floor for voting (S223). Success looked assured.

Then it was discovered that some Senator had put a secret hold on it that prevented a vote. As the Sunlight spokesperson wrote, “What irony to have a transparency bill blocked by a secret hold.” She goes on to write, “Secret holds are so looked down on these days that earlier this year, the Senate itself banned the practice, although the bill containing that provision has yet to become law.“ Last year, a coalition of citizens and bloggers helped discover the identity of a Senator who used a secret hold on a bill he didn’t like (it was, in fact, a “he”).

The Sunlight Foundation has organized a list of Senators by state as well as their contact information at: http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/node/2428. Lets find out who the culprit is this time and smoke him, or her, out. It’s time to bring the murky world of campaign finances into the light.