The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership to try to block it.

[Luminous Animal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/us/politics/house-defeats-effort-to-rein-in-nsa-data-gathering.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

House Defeats Effort to Rein In N.S.A. Data Gathering

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. wow - some weird coalitions

Conservative Republicans leery of what they see as Obama administration abuses of power teamed up with liberal Democrats long opposed to intrusive intelligence programs. The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership to try to block it.

The amendment to the annual Defense Department spending bill, written by Representatives Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican from Western Michigan, and John Conyers Jr., a veteran liberal Democrat from Detroit, turned Democrat against Democrat and Republican against Republican.

It would have limited N.S.A. phone surveillance to specific targets of law enforcement investigations, not broad dragnets. It was only one of a series of proposals — including restricting funds for Syrian rebels and adding Congressional oversight to foreign aid to Egypt — intended to check President Obama’s foreign and intelligence policies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/us/politics/house-defeats-effort-to-rein-in-nsa-data-gathering.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&

[RobertEarl]

5. nsa is a unifier

Not only is the left concerned, but the right is too.

Heck, just about everyone is perturbed by the idea of privacy being pirated.

Obama had best see the light and get with the people before he is thought of as being a privacy pirate.

[struggle4progress]

2. We can get restrictions on the program, just not by this grandstanding

[Pretzel_Warrior]

3. Exactly. This wouldn't have passed the senate anyway

[struggle4progress]

11. I doubt if it would have passed the House either: showboating legislation like this, that fails

by tiny margins, often reflects a lot of behind-the-scenes talk, where people in safe districts vote no, and people who need to shore-up voter support vote yes, once they're sure the vote will fail

[joshcryer]

12. Yeah, that's exactly what happened if you watch the CSPAN replay.

The vote tally was back and forth the whole time but it was passing by huge margins initially.

It was a faux tie. Lots of people gained some political capital on that vote just because it's a vote they can add to their list of whatever they want their constituents to believe.

[struggle4progress]

15. Your post #9 actually makes that point better than my speculations

[delrem]

14. When Obama makes common cause with R's to defeat a bill

it isn't "grandstanding".
It's identifying himself with his base.

[struggle4progress]

16. IMO Obama simply asked Congress to take appropriately deliberative and informed action,

rather than grandstanding

[frylock]

19. just like they did with USAPATRIOT

[limpyhobbler]

4. Boy ya know this country is really going down the shitter.

[YoungDemCA]

6. But remember....

"The choice between Obama and the Republicans is clear!"

[Tx4obama]

7. In The House - the Amash amendment failed, but the Pompeo amendment passed. n/t

[joshcryer]

10. Pompeo just says NSA can't target US citizens.

Which the NSA already claims it doesn't do.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. And, the good doggies did what their masters told them to do.

[joshcryer]

9. 21 out of 23 House Intelligence members voted against it.

There's no alliance here, the writing was on the wall and it was only so close because so many changed their votes after it became clear it wouldn't pass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Permanent_Select_Committee_on_Intelligence

Compare here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll412.xml

Only Ed Pastor from AZ and Adam Schiff from CA voted for it.

[woo me with science]

13. Wait. I am getting my good cops and bad cops

all mixed up.

[railsback]

17. Political grandstanding

It was NEVER going to pass.

C'mon.

[blkmusclmachine]

18. The choice between more evil and less evil, is still evil.