Month: January 2008

FISA Debate Resumes Today

The Senate will resume its debate of FISA reform legislation today.

Right now, Democratic and Republican leadership in the Senate are trying to negotiate the path forward. They might try to pass a short extension to the Protect America Act (possibly less than 30 days). Also under negotiation is how many amendments will be allowed to the Intel bill, which amendments those will be and whether the amendments will require 50 or 60 votes to pass. It’s possible that not all amendments would be subject to the same threshold to pass.

There’s still a great need for the Senate to hear our opposition to warrantless wiretapping and retroactive immunity. You can email your Senators through CREDO Action’s email tool. Or you can call senators from the list below, which consists of key swing votes, presidential candidates, and senators up for re-election in swing and liberal states.

Arizona — John McCain, (202) 224-2235
Arkansas — Blanche Lincoln, (202) 224-4843; Mark Pryor, (202) 224-2353
California — Dianne Feinstein, (202) 224-3841
Colorado — Ken Salazar, (202) 224-5852
Connecticut — Joe Lieberman, (202) 224-4041
Delaware — Thomas Carper, (202) 224-2441
Florida — Bill Nelson, (202) 224-5274
Georgia — Saxby Chambliss, (202) 224-3521
Hawaii — Daniel Inouye, (202) 224-3934
Illinois — Barack Obama, (202) 224-2854
Indiana — Evan Bayh, (202) 224-5623
Louisiana — Mary Landrieu, (202)224-5824
Maine — Olympia Snowe, (202) 224-5344 and Susan Collins, (202) 224-2523
Maryland — Barbara Mikulski, (202) 224-4654
Michigan — Debbie Stabenow, (202) 224-4822
Minnesota — Norm Coleman, (202) 224-5641
Missouri — Claire McCaskill, (202) 224-6154
Nebraska — Ben Nelson, (202) 224-6551
New Hampshire — John Sununu, (202) 224-2841
New York — Hillary Clinton, (202) 224-4451
North Carolina — Elizabeth Dole, (202) 224-6342
Oregon — Gordon Smith, (202) 224-3753
Pennsylvania — Arlen Specter, (202) 224-4254
South Carolina — Lindsey Graham, (202) 224-5972
South Dakota — Tim Johnson, (202) 224-5842
Virginia — John Warner, (202) 224-2023
West Virginia — Robert Byrd, (202) 224-3954
Wisconsin — Herb Kohl, (202) 224-5653

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

Idiocy

In searching for a recent post on RedState’s monumentally successful (?) fundraiser, I found this piece of stupidity from front pager Moe Lane. Lane, apparently incensed by Dodd’s references to the defense offered by Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, tries to do some logical jiu-jitsu and ends up falling flat on his face.

In case you’re wondering, it was the telecom industry that he was comparing to Nazis: amusingly, it seems to have escaped his noticed that if the telecoms are Nazis for working with the administration, then the administration must be Nazis, too – and, hey, what does Senator Chris Dodd do for a living? That’s right, he works with the administration. He’s not, say, out in the countryside shooting the military governor of Topeka and stocking up for the Liberation. He’s right there in Washington DC, implicitly supporting the Bush Regime’s claim to legitimacy! He’s just like the telecoms!

[stunned look] It’s all terrifyingly clear, now. Chris Dodd is confessing to being a Nazi!

Um, no.

It’s actually really funny that Lane thinks he’s taking Dodd down for using a poor argument in connection to Nuremberg and the defenses offered there. I doubt Lane knows that Dodd’s father, Tom Dodd, was a lead prosecutor there or that Dodd has authored a book about his father’s work at Nuremberg.

Being a member of Congress and occasionally working with the administration does not equal being a Nazi. And, if Lane was paying attention to what Dodd said and the context in which he said it, he is using his constitutionally given opportunity as a member of a co-equal branch of government to conduct oversight of the administration, with the specific goal of stopping activity that he finds reprehensible. Which, following Lane’s mistaken argument,

More importantly, working with the Bush administration isn’t the crime Dodd is accusing the telecoms of committing. He’s attacking the telecoms defense in response to the suits against them — that they were ordered to do what they did by the Bush administration and were obligated to comply. That’s the same defense defendants at Nuremberg offered and it was one that humanity and the rule of law did not look kindly upon.

End of An Empire

Stirling Newberry of The Agonist has a response post to Bush’s State of the Union that infinitely exceeds anything I saw last night from Democratic elected officials and candidates. Newberry’s post is really an early history of the impact Bush has had on America and America’s standing in the world.  To call it damning would be an understatement of its power and pointedness.

What’s Next in the Wiretapping Debate

Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker has a rundown on what we should expect next from Congress as the sunset of the PAA approaches later this week.

Up until now, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had refused to entertain any such scenario. It was part of the Senate Republican-administration tag-team squeeze play. But in remarks today, he seemed to soften his stance, saying that he might support a short extension to the PAA. But he didn’t say for how much time, and it’s apparently less than thirty days.

In the House tomorrow morning, they’ll hold a vote on a bill that would extend the PAA by thirty days. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated he’ll try the same thing. But given the tactics the Republicans used last week, it’s far from clear that the Republicans will even allow a vote on it. So– we’ll see you in the morning.

Jane Hamsher points out that even if the Republicans in the Senate were to go along with a short extension of the PAA, it may be hard to get it through because of the House’s schedule this week.

For the mean time, it’s important that we keep the pressure on the Senate. Our expectations of them have not changed – we do not want retroactive immunity, we want the Senate to stand up for the rule of law. You can contact your Senators through the CREDO Action email tool.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

Republican Obstructionism Blocks PAA Extension

The Republican Party just defeated cloture on the 30 day extension to the Protect America Act by a vote of 48-45. 60 votes were needed to win. The full roll call for the vote is here.

As a result, there is a good chance that the PAA to sunset on February 1st. This will likely only have political ramifications and not impact our intelligence community’s activities. However, the GOP has clearly decided to make this a political issue. Don’t be surprised if President Bush tries to blame Democrats for failing to pass exactly the bill he wants tonight in the State of the Union.

Glenn Greenwald has this quick analysis:

Reid, however, indicated that it was certain that the House will vote in favor of an extension tomorrow, which means it will be sent to the Senate for another vote. It’s possible, then, that the Senate will vote again later in the week on an extension, but it’s hard to imagine any Republicans ever voting in favor of an extension since Bush has vowed to veto it.

By blocking an extension, Republicans just basically assured that the PAA — which they spent the last seven months shrilly insisting was crucial if we are going to be Saved from The Terrorists — will expire on Friday without any new bill in place. Since the House is going out of session after tomorrow, there is no way to get a new bill in place before Friday. The Republicans, at Bush’s behest, just knowingly deprived the intelligence community of a tool they have long claimed is so vital. Is the media going to understand and be able to explain what the Republicans just did? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.

It looks like the Senate will resume debate on FISA tomorrow, though I don’t yet know if or when they will next vote on any amendments to the underlying Intelligence Committee bill.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

SSCI Bill Fails Cloture

This is very good, if somewhat expected, news.

The Senate just defeated cloture on the bad Intelligence committee bill. The bill needed 60 votes, but only received 48 in favor, with 45 opposed. The full roll call is here.

New votes opposing the Intel bill:

Obama
Bayh
Rockefeller
Clinton
McCaskill
Inouye
Johnson
Specter
Carper
Salazar
Mikulski

Senators Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, and Mary Landrieu all continued to vote against the right position. Senator Landrieu had initially voted “no,” but changed her vote to “aye” when it was clear the vote would fail cloture.

The vote on the 30 day extension to the PAA is about to start. It is also expected to fail cloture.

“We Can’t Go Back”

OK, I’ll be honest. I got myself a serious Dodd/FISA jones going right now, so I just re-read his full speech from Friday for the umpteenth time in anticipation of him speaking again from the floor shortly. Here’s another passage that I haven’t yet pulled out, but think is a phenomenally sharp assessment of where we are and why we need clear leadership today.

No, Mr. President—we can’t go back. We can’t un-pass the Military Commissions Act. We can’t un-destroy the CIA’s interrogation tapes. We can’t un-speak Alberto Gonzales’s disgraceful testimony. We can’t un-torture Maher Arar. We can’t un-do all that this administration has done in the last six years for the cause of lawlessness and fear.

But we can do this. We can vote down this immunity. We can grab hold of the one thread left to us, and pull until the whole garment unravels. We can start here.

Why not here?

Why not today?

I urge—I strongly urge—my colleagues to oppose retroactive immunity.

I’ll be honest again: re-reading this speech and watching everything Senator Dodd has done since dropping out of the presidential campaign and returning to the Senate makes me deeply sorry that his campaign never gained traction. If this isn’t the perfect example of the clarity and leadership we need today, I don’t know what is.

Lack of Collegiality Having An Impact in FISA Debate

Last week I argued that the Senate Republicans had gone too far in their obstructionism on FISA, to the point that they were alienating their Democratic allies who have joined them on the wrong side of retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretapping. In effect, the GOP went beyond the pale and offended senators who want to work on contentious issues while maintaining a high level of collegiality.

That dynamic is playing out right now on the floor of the Senate. Jay Rockefeller, author of the retroactive immunity-granting Intel bill, is arguing against the GOP obstructionism and against cloture on his own bill because the Republicans have taken it hostage as part of a political ploy.

Rockefeller has said he will vote against cloture on the Intel bill, a very good sign that we will be able to defeat this afternoon’s cloture vote on it. He has also said he will vote for a 30 day extension to the PAA to continue fruitful discussion of renewal legislation.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

Dodd on the Bush Presidency

This is from last Friday’s speech and Senator Dodd is expected to speak shortly, but I still think this line is worth highlighting:

The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one. But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security.

And that ought to be the epitaph for this presidency: “sacrificing liberty for no apparent enhancement of security.” Worse than selling our soul—giving it away for free! [Emphasis added]

Amen, Senator.