Posted at Facing South:

The plot thickened today over the bi-partisan Senate legislation that would create a Google-like searchable databse of government contracts. Yesterday, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska -- infamous advocate of the $231 million "bridge to nowhere" project -- admitted to putting a secret hold on the bill (after stalling on Katrina aid if he didn't get oil drilling in Alaska).

But sleuths in the blogosphere soon realized they had only 98 senators denying clandestine involvement in gumming up the measure; Stevens wasn't alone.

Low and behold, it turns out that none other than Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) was also stalling behind the scenes -- and promptly after the news was revealed, Byrd changed course and agreed to drop his hold on the legislation as of 4 pm today.

Senator Byrd's statement today includes the following:
There was an effort to pass a bill (S. 2590) on an important subject without debate just before the Senate recess. Senators have an obligation to their constituents to know what they are voting on before signing off on any proposal. [...]

Senator Byrd wanted time to read the legislation, understand its implications, and see whether the proposal could be improved. Now that there has been time to better understand the legislation, Senator Byrd has released his hold. Senator Byrd believes that the bill should be debated and opened for amendment, and not pushed through without discussion.Sen. Byrd's reluctance to embrace the database is understandable, given his penchant for pork spending. As Southern Exposure reporter Sean Reilly revealed in his investigation of special earmarks last year, Byrd stands in a long line of Senators who are especially fond if giving money to projects named after themselves. In last year's tight budget, for example, Sen. Byrd rushed to ensure that $6 million was spent on various projects at the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center, "a Wheeling, West Virginia, facility named for the eight-term Democrat."

...read complete post at Facing South