AJC: Cranky Sen. Stevens is the culprit

From ajc.com: "Alaska Republican Ted Stevens admitted Wednesday that he used a parliamentary maneuver to secretly block legislation that would open federal spending practices to public scrutiny.

Stevens used a procedure known as a 'secret hold' to derail the legislation, which was introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Barack Obama, (D-Ill.), said Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for Stevens.

Speculation over who placed the hold on the measure, which would create a searchable database of $2.5 trillion in government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, has been swirling around Capitol Hill as well as the blogosphere.

The measure has the support of more than 100 conservative- and liberal-leaning groups, as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.)."