An "Unwarranted betrayal" ..Democrats and FISA

[madfloridian]

I posted this article last August....the day I called Congressman Allen Boyd's office here in Florida. I called about his support for the telecom immunity in the FISA bill.

His office told me that I should not be upset....that it took courage to be able to vote against your own party.

They saw nothing wrong with those words. To that office voting against the Democrats was a bold and courageous thing for a Florida Democrat to do. That is how the Democrats here often think, just as others do in conservative areas. It is like they don't stand for anything unless it is convenient for re-election.

Fisa Bill is "Unwarranted Betrayal" ....Albany Times

This is one of the best editorials I have seen on the topic.

If the leaders of the Democrat-controlled Congress want to know why their approval ratings are lower than President Bush's low ratings, they need only look at how they caved in to White House demands for broader domestic surveillance powers. Sixteen Democrats in the Senate, and 41 in the House, voted with Republicans to give the administration broader powers to wiretap telephone messages and spy on e-mail correspondence of Americans without first obtaining court warrants as previously required under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

...."Think of it. Here was a Democrat-controlled Congress that vowed to hold the White House accountable for its attempts to trample on the Fourth Amendment. And now it has done just the opposite. The danger can't be overstated. President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have never hidden their disdain for the niceties of the law, nor have they ever shown any compunction about using the powers of their office to go after political opponents. And now they have the power to invade Americans' privacy with impunity. There will be no checks and balances, no reports to Congress, no accountability. The potential for abuse is frightening.

As expected, the Bush administration put pressure on Congress in two ways: First, by warning that U.S. intelligence agencies were monitoring increased chatter among terrorist suspects, and second by invoking the old, and discredited, argument that changing technologies had made it impossible for government agents to obtain an individual warrant from the secret FISA court every time they wanted to track a terror suspect. But FISA guidelines allow the government to proceed with spying when time is of the essence, provided agents obtain a warrant retroactively. Expanding the time frame for such retroactive warrants would have addressed the administration's concerns about timeliness.

Regrettably, the Democrats abandoned their own alternative plan that would have made surveillance decisions subject to later court review, while requiring public audits by the Justice Department's inspector general on the number of Americans who were monitored by the government. That would have provided an essential layer of accountability.

Ari Fleischer's group, Freedom's Watch is targeting Democrats who are vulnerable in conservative areas.

It is said that the vulnerability of these Democrats is one reason for going along with the Bush administration on this issue. What a scary thought. Changing the future of our country by standing with the Republicans so they won't be able to keep us from being re-elected.

I have many mixed feelings about the Democrats in these areas. I do know this. If they run in fear from the attacks like this, if they fail to stand with Democrats on issues vital to the country's future...then we can really be said not to control Congress at all.

In effect the Republicans would still be in charge. And they would never back off from a fight....right or wrong.

They are poised to vote on the telecom immunity tomorrow, and the vote seems likely to go Bush's way.

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. The vote will be tomorrow. Make yourself heard today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3483773

Call RFN.

[madfloridian]

2. I have already called and donated.

:hi:

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. (I didn't mean you specifically)

Headlines you will never see:

"Madfloridian drops ball, sleeps in."

You are the Energizer Bunny of progressive politics. :yourock:

:toast: :patriot:

[madfloridian]

4. LOL

But not so much lately. :hi:

[mdmc]

5. Anyone got a list of democRATS that supported this tripe?

:mad:

[madfloridian]

7. Here is a list I found at Kos.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/19/115414/787/632/538388

Here are the Blue Dogs who supported the House's good FISA bill, the one that did not include amnesty. Call them and ask them to hold tough and vote against this bill tomorrow:

Rep. Leonard L. Boswell, D-Iowa -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]


These are the Blue Dogs who were with the Republicans on the last vote. Tell them it's never too late to redeem themselves and vote against this bad bill:

Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Christopher Carney, D-Pa. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C. -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]

[tbyg52]

11. I think Lampson also belongs on the "with the R's," though I wouldn't swear to it without research

I *know* he's a Blue Dog. Phone [phone]

[madfloridian]

12. There are quite a few left off.

FL Tim Mahoney is left off...I think I heard he will oppose the immunity. Not sure.

[jgraz]

13. Never forget who's really engineering this: Pelosi and Hoyer.

They'll make sure the bill passes and then vote against it like the lying cowards they are.

[madfloridian]

6. "It's a balanced bill," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSN1935705920080619

"WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. telephone companies that cooperated with President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program could be shielded from lawsuits under a electronic spy bill finalized on Thursday by congressional and White House negotiators.

Under the measure, a court would dismiss a suit if there is written certification that the White House asked a phone company to participate and assured it of the legality of the program that Bush secretly began shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Besides allowing court review of phone company lawsuits, the sweeping overhaul of U.S. spy powers in decades would increase oversight of U.S. intelligence activities and bolster protection of civil liberties, but not as much as some advocates would like.

A vote on the bipartisan bill was anticipated on Friday in the Democratic-led House of Representatives, which was expected to approve it overwhelmingly."

"Democrats obtained some concessions from the White House, but unfortunately the bill continues to allow unconstitutionally broad access to untold numbers of private international e-mails and phone calls of American residents and businesses," said Lisa Graves, deputy director of the Center for National Security Studies, a Washington watchdog group.

House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, a chief negotiator, disagreed.

"This bipartisan bill balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans' civil liberties, and provides critical new oversight and accountability," he said."

[Supersedeas]

8. what balances with immunity for break the law

[madfloridian]

9. Exactly, immunity is just what it is. I just feel sad.

Kind of like when we made no difference about Iraq.

[madfloridian]

10. Good post at Kos. Boyda opposes the bill.....still has 68% approval rating in KS

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/19/16129/7150/432/538572

Just think about it.

There is a video there of her also.