Just moments ago, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) attempted to pass S.223, the Senate campaign finance electronic filing bill, for a second time. This time Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) announced an anonymous objection to the bill from the Republican side. Since we called every Republican office and found no one to admit to placing the original objection we now know that one or more Senators are lying to their constituents. Let's clarify the language and call every single Republican Senator and ask them if they registered an objection to S.223. Don't ask about secret holds or whether they support the bill. Just ask if the Senator registered an objection to the bill. Get the Senator on the record. Don't take the word of a Staff Assistant. Get the Senator to issue a statement and talk to someone who handles the issue. And don't just call you Senators, - call Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) too. He knows who the liar is and covering them up. If you have a Republican Senator call them now and ask if they are objecting to S.223. Leave your findings in this comment form or in the comment section below. Call numbers are below the fold.
Continue readingMitch McConnell Knows Mystery Senator Identity. Call Him.
The Washington Post reports today that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the only non-respondent to queries about an anonymous hold on S.223, is denying that he has a hold on the bill. According to the Post article, Gregg’s spokeswoman Erin Rath states, “As a matter of practice, Senator Gregg does not use secret holds.” When pressed again, Rath stated that Gregg does not have a hold on the bill. Gregg’s denial isn’t the most definitive “no” that we’ve heard so we are still unsure about his status. However, there is one person that everyone knows has the answer to the mystery of the anonymous hold: Mitch McConnell. Call his office and ask him who made an anonymous objection to S.223: (202) 224-2541. Send us your findings through this comment form.
Continue readingStill Waiting…
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) is the only Senator on our list who will not respond to queries about the anonymous blocking of S.223, the Senate campaign finance electronic filing bill. Why won't Sen. Gregg answer the question or return our phone calls? If you still want to call and find out give Gregg's office a ring at (202) 224-3324 and ask if he is has ever placed a hold or made an objection to S.223. You can send your findings on this comment form. Meanwhile, we'll be waiting here for an answer to our question. Who's blocking S.223? Check out our complete page on the search for the secret Senator at this page on our website.
Continue readingGregg.
Updated to reflect Kyl's denial.
Is it 
OR 
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Jon Kyl - (202) 224-4521 Judd Gregg - (202) 224-3324
Use this comment form to tell us what you find.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) refuses to tell his constituents if they are anonymously blocking the non-controversial electronic filing bill, S.223. Why won't Judd Gregg come clean and either admit or deny? The only assumption to be made is that Gregg is blocking the bill. It's a shame that Kyl and Gregg have to hide in his office behind staff assistants who know little of what is going on. Come out in the open and answer the question: are you blocking S.223?
Kyl or Gregg? Who is it?
We've narrowed our list down to three Senators: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH). Our callers have been vigorously calling these offices to try and track down the Senator anonymously blocking Sen. Russ Feingold's electronic filing bill. We may be ready to cross Sen. Gregg's name off the list as we have received a few responses from callers like this one from Sunlight caller PH: "In Sen. Gregg's office, staff memember "Tim" said, to my knowledge Sen. Gregg did not place the secret hold on S. 223." Sen. Gregg is still a suspect. Sen. Vitter's office appears to have been deluged with calls over this as the press secretary's mailbox is completely full with calls about the blocked bill.[Vitter says "NO" - PB]
Sen. Kyl's office appears to be the most evasive with staffers saying things like, "it's a secret hold, so it's a secret," and, "we have no public statement to make." Another caller to Kyl's office noted that the staffer said that Sen. Feingold knows and that we should ask him. Feingold, however, denies having been told who the Senator is in this blog post. Keep the pressure on! Use this comment form to notify us of your interactions with staff and your findings.
Continue readingFinish the Job. 3 Senators Remain.
This post has been updated to reflect corrections made by the offices of Sens. Thad Cochran and Jim DeMint. - PB.
There are only 3 Senators who refuse to state if they have a hold or an objection to S. 223, the campaign finance electronic filing bill. Let’s finish the job and call their offices. There is no reason remaining for any Senator who does not have a hold or objection on this bill to continue to remain silent. Either admit or deny. The 3 Senators' contact info is below. Use this contact form to let us know what you find. If you come across any problems or statements like “There is no hold” here are some pointers to take into account:
- The office of Sen.
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)John Ensign (R-NV) [Ensign not Kyl. - PB] has repeatedly told us that the Republican policy for secret holds is to reveal the culprit after 72 hours. By my count it has been way past 72 hours since the hold went into effect. - If the Senator who placed a hold on the bill by making an objection seriously wanted to review the bill they have now had an entire week to review the bill. It only says one thing: Senators, all of whom already use the software necessary to do so, will file their campaign finance reports electronically.
Finish the job and call these remaining 3 Senators now!
Continue reading12 Senators Left! Keep Calling.
Major media outlets are reporting that the Senator in question is definitely a Republican. Since we know that the Senator is a Republican we can narrow down our search to the remaining 12 Republican Senators. Help find the anonymous Senator and call these 12 Senators today. I’ve separated them into two groups. One group contains Republican cosponsors of the bill that have not made a statement yet. It is highly unlikely that any of these Senators have blocked the bill but it is still worth getting a statement out of them. The second group is our Main Suspects list. These Senators aren’t cosponsors and have either not been contacted or refuse to divulge information. It is time to put pressure on these 10 Senators. Just in case a staffer tells you there is no hold let them know that Sen. DeMint's office confirmed that there is a hold to one our callers. Who is the anonymous Senator blocking S. 223? It’s time to find out. Use this contact form to let us know or leave your findings in the comments.
It’s the Anonymity, Stupid. Keep Calling.
Secret hold. Secret objection. Whatever you call it there is no reason for some anonymous Senator to secretly block any bill, let alone a bill that increases transparency. As Ellen said, “a hold is a hold is a hold, unless you want to debate what the definition of "is" is.” Instapundit agrees. But thanks to you, we’re getting closer to figuring out which Senator is anonymously blocking this bill. Currently we’ve crossed 56 Senators off of our list, 29 Republicans and 27 Democrats. We still need you to call your Senators and find out who the anonymous Senator is. Let’s finish this today!
Continue readingWho Placed a Secret Hold on Sunlight?
Yet again an anonymous Senator has placed a secret hold on legislation that would increase transparency. This time a secret hold has been placed on a bill, S. 223, that would mandate that Senators file their campaign finance reports electronically. This process would not only make these reports more readily available to the public but would also save money and resources.
Yesterday this bill was blocked by an anonymous Senator who placed a secret hold on the bill. 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. But until secret holds are banished forever, we need your help in exposing the culprit who is blocking consideration of the electronic filing requirement for Senate campaign finance reports.
We need your help to find out who placed this secret hold! Call your Senators and ask them if they are the one with the secret hold on S. 223. Then report back here in the comments with your findings or contact us using this contact form. Below is a list of Senators, organized by state, and their contact info. If a Senator issues a denial we will indicate that next to their name.
Continue readingSecret Hold Placed on Senate Electronic Filing Bill
Update: Here's Feingold's statement.
Today Russ Feingold and Dianne Feinstein brought S.223, the Senate electronic disclosure bill, to the floor for a unanimous consent vote. When they asked if there was any objection Sen. Lamar Alexander, filling in for the minority leadership, announced that he had an objection, indicating that some Senator in the Republican caucus has placed a secret hold on the disclosure bill. This is twice in two years that a Senator has placed a secret hold on legislation providing for more disclosure to the public. Last year, it was the Coburn-Obama earmark database bill and a coalition of Right and Left bloggers smoked out both Sens. Ted Stevens and Robert Byrd as the secret holders. Don't these Senators know that we will find out who you are.
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