Sen. Byrd holds up, then changes course on spending accountability bill
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:
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. [...]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."
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.
11 Comments:
Byrd is a man out of time. He's actually beloved in WV -- how many politicians in the modern era can say that?
I freely admit that he's one of the pork kings and there seems to be at least one Robert Byrd anything in WV. It wouldn't surprise me to find a Robert Byrd Memorial Outhouse, paid for with federal dollars.
But the Technology Transfer Center seems like good pork to me -- they're trying to start WV's version of Research Triangle by creating a technology corridor in the state.
How about a bi-partisan effort to oust Byrd and Stevens. Maybe we should boycott their representative states until they're voted out. Byrd and Stevens are the worst kind of Politicians.
The National Technology Transfer Center, established in 1989, has received a minimum of $7 million a year and has transfered nothing but pork dollars. It is located on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University, a private, Catholic liberal arts university. Wheeling Jesuit University, according to its website, is home to 1000 students. And it is home to the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies and the NASA Classroom of the Future--which also received more than $2 million in earmark funding this year thanks to Senator Byrd. Wow. WJU even has a Byrd Library. Senator Byrd also gave the CET a Department of Education grant of more than $1 million to produce a DvD called Foundations of Freedom. He gave the NTTC money for its Coal Impoundment Project and then more money for HeatheWV. If somebody added up all the money that Byrd has put into this campus since 1989--it is well over $50 million. Yes, a private, exclusive, Catholic university gets that much in tax dollars from citizens.
Byrd seems to be competing with Congressman Alan Mollohan on the Technology Triangle. Only Mollohan seems to actually require outcomes. I cannot find one piece of technology that the NTTC has actually transferred and licensed on its website--which looks a lot like they sell car parts. It seems that they are nothing more than middle men who pass along business cards. I do not understand why the NTTC is located on a private university setting and is not part of the West Virginia High Technology Consoritium Foundation. They also do tech transfer and for West Virginia companies. Every program--but the small shop in Alexandria, Virginia--at the NTTC seems to be for West Virginia, too. Two pork barrel kings fighting for the same piece but only one seems to be generating jobs. Oust Byrd!
I agree that Senator Byrd is beloved in West Virginia. USA Today just did a profile on him and brags about pumping billions into West Virgina. The NTTC is the latest in a long line of Byrd Droppings! (visit Citizens Against Government Waste or the Public Citizen). I did notice that the NTTC is now a line item on the NASA budget. Byrd's behind the scenes political wrangling? And, even more exciting news, if you go to www.NASA.gov, type "Wheeling Jesuit University" into the search, then sort by date, click on the NASA Inspector General report. Go the significant audits section and WJU is featured prominently. It raises omee interesting questions on how the campus uses these dollars.
I see Wheeling Jesuit University gets anywhere from 20 to 38 percent of each federal dollar that Byrd puts on the campus. Talk about an unholy alliance! I did a search and found that the campus has made several pork project lists from the Chronicle of Higher Education. It seems the current president and the head of the NTTC are personal friends of Byrd's. Also appears that a former president was a good friend of Byrds. That explains why my tax dollars are going to a center that does nothing and a campus that appears to do even less. Searched U.S. News rankings on colleges and the University has been a downward slide in the rankings for three years. Holy cow: $27,000 a year to go there. Something is really fishy--and no Catholic joke there--at that campus.
You're talking about the indirect rates. All universities and colleges get a percentage of federal dollars from grants or federal dollars so that in itself is not surprising It is surprising to see a private religious university get those types of federal dollars instead of a public institution. It seems that the NTTC has been receiving a minimum of $5.8 million a year thanks to a cooperative agreement with NASA for at least seven years. Looks like the NTTC also got money from MSHA, DoD, Homeland Security, EPA, VA, Ballistic Missile Defense,and Department of Education. They may have been pulling in about $15 million a year in pork projects at one time. And the NTTC press releases indicate Byrd had a hand in most of these. The factbooks on the website indicate that the NTTC is actually losing jobs, not creating them. This looks like a giant fraud? If the website is accurate, the NTTC has licensed 1 (yes, one) technology for NASA in 17 years. Hey PorkGoneBad, I looked at the other organization, you're right. Looks like Mollohan's group has created 400 firms. Byrd's WV NTTC has created nothing. Let the Byrd fly the coup!
ByrdDroppings. But then West Virginians would have to work for a living and not live Byrd to Mouth! Ha. Yes, Mollohan seems to have created something that works. But I saw the ABC and Wall Street Journal articles on him. Byrd is called the King of Pork, Mollohan is the Prince. But neither of them has been on the Daily Show as much as Ted "the internet is not a dump truck, it is a serious of tubes" Stevens.
This is what happens when two elected representatives from the same state have leadership roles on both the House and the Senate Appropriation Committees. Looks like the ATM is open and the Mountain State citizens can line up to the trough. Turn off the federal dollar faucet!
As a former NASA employee, I can assure all of you that NASA does not value the NTTC. It eats away at the NASA budget but delivers no results. It is poorly led and a prime example of NASA must go to a competitive contract system for technology tranfer. We downsized out thousands of good employees in the past three years but have to carry bottom feeders like the NTTC because of political pressure from Senator Byrd. As a person of color, it deeply disturbs me that there is no diversity within the NTTC. Considering that it is named after a former member of the KKK (who thought it was a gentlemen's club), I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Pork pork pork..
As a former employee of the NTTC I can tell you a few things...
NASA paid for the building that the NTTC uses and the NTTC pays WJU a lease for using it.
WJU also gets a kick back of 33% on the payroll of the NTTC.
Quite a fat deal for Wheeling Jesuit.
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