FISA Response During SOTU

Last night I watched the State of the Union at a Living Liberally event in NYC. There were probably between 150-200 people there, including about a dozen Young Republicans. It was a very vocal crowd, with a lot of hoots, hollers, insults, and rebuttals thrown at President Bush with each spurious claim he made.

What was incredibly interesting is that the lines of the speech that got the loudest boos and shouts was Bush’s lines on retroactive immunity and the Protect America Act.

This is remarkable in large part because the press has not covered this debate in any detail. The traditional media has not called out the Bush administration for why it wants retroactive immunity for the big telecoms, nor the impact of what immunity would have on the rule of law. Nonetheless, the people in this room and people around the country know the stakes in this fight. The American people recognize that the Bush administration’s assault on the rule of law could have a greater negative impact than anything else — more than the war in Iraq, more than the disastrous Bush economy.

It’s reassuring to know that even if the Republican Party, many elected Democrats, and most of the media voices that could draw attention to these critical issues don’t care much for the defense of the Constitution, the American people do.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

Obama on FISA & Our Movement

A very strong statement from Senator Barack Obama:

I strongly oppose retroactive immunity in the FISA bill.

Ever since 9/11, this Administration has put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand.

The FISA court works. The separation of power works. We can trace, track down and take out terrorists while ensuring that our actions are subject to vigorous oversight, and do not undermine the very laws and freedom that we are fighting to defend.

No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people – not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.

That is why I am co-sponsoring Senator Dodd’s amendment to remove the immunity provision. Secrecy must not trump accountability. We must show our citizens – and set an example to the world – that laws cannot be ignored when it is inconvenient.

A grassroots movement of Americans has pushed this issue to the forefront. You have come together across this country. You have called upon our leaders to adhere to the Constitution. You have sent a message to the halls of power that the American people will not permit the abuse of power – and demanded that we reclaim our core values by restoring the rule of law.

It’s time for Washington to hear your voices, and to act. I share your commitment to this cause, and will stand with you in the fights to come. And when I am President, the American people will once again be able to trust that their government will stand for justice, and will defend the liberties that we hold so dear as vigorously as we defend our security. [Emphasis added]

This is great. In addition to making a strong commitment to the rule of law and defending the Constitution in this fight, it’s heartening to see Senator Obama recognize how grassroots progressive activists online and offline have stood up and made this an issue that is part of the national debate.

Senator Chris Dodd made a similar recognition of the grassroots power this issue has engendered last week while speaking in the Senate.

“For several months now, I’ve listened to the building frustration over this immunity and this administration’s campaign of lawlessness. I’ve seen it in person, in mail, online—the passion and eloquence of citizens who are just fed up. They’ve inspired me more than they know.”

Combined, Senators Obama and Dodd are showing that they clearly recognize the forces at play in this debate. It is a people powered movement to stop a bad bill and defend the rule of law. It’s a movement that is giving our leaders in the Senate the support and backing they need to do the right thing. This whole legislative fight and the movement that has driven it gives me great hope about what we can achieve when online activists, advocacy organizations, and leaders in the government work together towards a common goal.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.

Dodd SOTU Response

Senator Chris Dodd:

“In his last State of the Union speech to the nation, President George W. Bush once again demonstrated why the country is in such dire need of a new direction. Having heard his assessment of the state of America today, I am concerned about his unwillingness to provide real assistance to middle class Americans struggling to make ends meet, his continued trampling of the Constitution – our civil liberties – in the name of national security, and his lack of a plan to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home safely.

“While I am heartened to hear President Bush acknowledge the foreclosure crisis affecting thousands of families across our nation, the fact is that this Administration has come very late to this effort, years after I and others called for regulatory and legislative changes to protect people from the predatory lending practices that have precipitated the highest foreclosure rates in recorded history. The Administration’s efforts are unlikely to work quickly enough to prevent foreclosures for homeowners who deserve a hand.

“For nearly 47 million Americans in this country, lacking health insurance means lacking the ability to afford prescription drugs for chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease, getting routine cancer screenings, or taking their children for regular check-ups.  For some, being uninsured may ultimately mean the difference between life and death as they are left to choose between paying their mortgage and paying for prescription drugs. The President’s proposal tonight not only fails to make health insurance affordable and attainable for millions of Americans who lack insurance today, but his misguided proposal will erode the insurance coverage that many Americans already have. A comprehensive approach to health insurance is needed in this country, one that provides a real benefit and that builds on the success of existing public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.  The proposal offered by the President tonight fails on all fronts.

“Also disturbing is how the President is once again using scare tactics to try to erode our civil liberties – this time favoring the rights of his corporate friends over citizens’ rights to privacy when it comes to their phone records. I stand adamantly opposed to retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that may have illegally aided the federal government in warrantless wiretapping, and will do what I can to deny the President the unprecedented and unwarranted expansion of power he seeks.

“President Bush isn’t just shredding the Constitution, he’s failing to keep us safe. Bin Laden is still plotting while we are mired in the sixth year of this disastrous war in Iraq, with no end in sight. Last year saw the highest number of American and Iraqi casualties and yet the Administration is now in negotiations to extend our presence in Iraq for years to come, and is doing so in a way that skirts Congressional approval.

“While I have reservations about President Bush’s assertion that the State of the Union is strong, I have confidence and will do all within my power to ensure its fiscal stability and renewed strength.” [Emphasis added]

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.