Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is not Jon Stewart’s favorite person. Last week on The Daily Show‘s he did a memorable segment called "Who the F**k is Ted Stevens?" (Video here.)
Why is that? Well, consider the following.
He and his fellow drilling monomaniacs in Congress have inflated the (already-inflated [PDF]) projected revenue from Arctic Refuge drilling to $5 billion, though the Congressional Budget Office has not yet changed its official scoring.
Last week Stevens was openly discussing scaring up support for refuge drilling among Gulf-state Democrats by tying it to hurricane relief. Holding devastated families hostage. Classy.
But the latest rumor — and right now it’s only a rumor, mentioned in CongressDaily — takes the cake. Apparently Stevens is considering holding up the Defense Appropriations Bill until he gets refuge drilling in the budget reconciliation bill, which is in conference committee. Holding the military’s budget hostage. Quite a mensch!
Anyway, if anyone can verify (or disconfirm) this rumor, let me know.
