Whistleblower protections axed from stimulus

[Javaman]

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whisteblower_protections_stripped_from_stimulus_bill_0212.html

So much for keeping the federal government from blowing millions in taxpayer money.

The Senate quietly stripped whistleblower protections from the final stimulus package Wednesday afternoon, as the bill's authors bragged of a bipartisan compromise. The removal is particularly significant because of the bill's $789 billion price tag.

Despite the ugly record of federal spending in Iraq -- where auditors found problems with $88 million in federal contracts, and couldn't account for 8.8 billion dollars -- senators quietly nixed the measure from the bill, without explanation.

Talking Points Memo, which cited a source close to the final bill, said the provision was removed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), one of the senators brokering the compromise.

[babylonsister]

1. And the irony is, Collins is the ranking rethug on the oversight committee.

What doesn't she want to share with the country, and why is she throwing up roadblocks to get to the truth?

Source: Collins Strips Stimulus Bill Of Whistleblower Protections

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/source_collins_strips_stim_bill_of_whistleblower_p.php

[Hawkeye-X]

2. It'll be back in another form - the one that Repugs can't touch.

like defense spending bills. :)

[Old and In the Way]

3. I hope this gets broadcast far and wide in the Pine Tree State.

We could have had an excellent progressive Democrat in Congress, but, no, we had to re-elect Suzie. I'm guessing that this bill would cause Ms. Collins a lot of angst, since it would probably expose the gross lack of oversight she and her buddy Lieberman failed to exercise as chair heads for DHS.

That's OK....it really isn't stimulus legislation. Resubmit on its own merits.