Susan Collins Stripped Whistleblower Protection from Stimulus Bill So GOP Can Blame Dems Later
By Susie Madrak Thursday Feb 12, 2009 3:00pm
(I totally stole this from The General...)
Via TPMMuckraker: Gotta love those "centrists"!
Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine GOP dealmaker who's been in the limelight this week for helping to pass a watered down stimulus, has been talking a good game about the need to avoid wasting taxpayer money. But it looks like Collins also worked today to strip from the final bill a measure that's crucial to exposing that waste.
Here's what happened:
The House stimulus bill contained a provision designed to protect federal whistleblowers. Currently, those protections are shockingly weak. According to the Project On Government Oversight, whistleblowers who are fired or demoted can file a complaint with a government board -- but over the last eight years, that board has ruled in favor of whistleblowers only twice in 55 cases.
More to the point, the protections were designed to encourage federal workers to point out cases where taxpayer money is subject to waste, fraud, or abuse -- a legitimate concern when Congress spends $800 billion, and one that centrists and Republicans have been particularly exercised about.
Yesterday, 20 members of the House, from both parties, yesterday sent a letter to House negotiators urging them to ensure that the protections remained.
But, according to a person following the bill closely, Collins used today's conference committee to drastically water down the measure, citing national security concerns as the reason for her opposition. In the end, the protections were so weakened that House negotiators balked, and the result was that the entire amendment was removed.
According to the person following the bill, Collins was the "central roadblock" to passing the protections.
But wait, here's the good part!
So when, in the coming months, conservatives start jumping up and down over the fact that money from the stimulus bill is being wasted, as they surely will, it's worth remembering that a key measure designed to help expose that waste was removed from taken out of the bill -- and by a senator said to be a champion of fiscal discipline.
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this particular blog entry had no class!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/11207/saturday-night-liv
e-tv-funhouse-the-obama-files#s-p9-st-i1
I stressed the word IF Arjay because until it is signed and put into effect, we do not know the outcome. We can speculate on it's success or failure as we will but I stress IF because it has yet to be determined. I was against the 1st stimulus, the bailout and this special interest pork project. It has nothing to do with party, it has to do with reckless spending.
I thought you might be interested in reading a letter from Halliburton whistleblower Bunny Greenhouse urging all Americans to continue the fight for greater oversight and accountability. You can read Bunny's letter and help her protect taxpayer dollars by
visiting
http://capwiz.com/whistleblowers/issues/
alert/?alertid=12666936
I say it is bull crap.., Spector is a RINO and needs to be replaced.
Then why has Arlen Specter come out saying that the Republicans support the bill behind closed doors? They are only voting against it to save their rears for re-election. What do you say to that?
I like how you stressed the word IF, Smashey. I truly hope this barrage of criticism concerning Obama isn't just a lot of partisan sore-loser bickering. I hope, at the end of the day, we're rooting for things like a stable economy, more and better jobs. I know it's just part of the game, Republicans whining like little girls because Democrats are in charge, just like Democrats whined like little girls when the Republicans ran everything in 2001. That's why I can sit back and laugh at the bulk of you, because it's evidence that Republicans and Democrats are one and the same. It's predictable. The only difference is, Republicans are vicious and Democrats are wusses. Other than that, we all saw this eight years ago, only the R's and the D's are reversed. Please tell me Maditude and I aren't the only ones who get it.
When did Susan Collins become a fiscal conservative? I must have missed that.
Correct Hawk. The GOP won't need to place blame IF this fails. It would undoubtedly be the fault of those whom voted for it regardless of party. The fact that no GOP members of the House voted for it puts the burden on the Dems even more. No one to blame but themselves and I want to stress IF it fails.
Smashey is correct. The dems can pass any bill they want to pass. They own DC! They need Republicans so when the bills they pass fail they can spread the blame around. I hope the Conservative members of my party stand firm and continue to vote no when it comes to these pork bills.
Collins? 1 GOP congresswoman watered down the bill? The Dem's own Congress, the Senate and the WH. It's on your backs now. Take the responsibility. If it was watered down it's because they allowed it to be. The ball belongs to the Dems. If only 20 members of Congress sent a letter urging the house negotiators to keep the protections it doesn't sound to me like it had much support anyway. The thought that 1 GOP congresswoman brought this down is laughable.
This pork bill IS the democrats bill. It is not bi-partisan! It is the Dems who will suffer the consequences when it fails to work. I will be one of those folks who scream when it does fail. I will be one of those folks fighting to win back the house and senate. I will scream when my tax dollars are wasted by liberals who want to build drive though abortion clinics with my money. The Dems won, they control everything, when they fail, and they will fail, I will scream from the mountain tops after I finish laughing.
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