So the Senate FISA vote got delayed.

[backscatter712]

Don't ask me how, but the vote on FISA now won't happen until after the Senate gets back from their July 4th recess. We have a small reprieve.

You know what might be a good tactic for torpedoing this bill? Keep delaying it. Use every parliamentary dirty trick available to keep moving the vote back and moving it back. The goal should be to move the final FISA vote to late October.

I'd like to see those quislings try to sell out our Constitutional rights two weeks before facing angry voters in the election...

[jazzjunkysue]

1. I'm surprised. Maybe the senate will attempt democracy?

If they don't have the stomach for it now, they never will.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Don't ask you how ...

Okay, I won't.

>slaps forehead<

[robinlynne]

3. Feingold got it delayed. he and Dodd are going to push ammendment

to remove telecom immunity. It is the ONLY chnace wer have. We need to get all democratss on board. I mean every single one. even the republican ones.

[madfloridian]

5. Trouble is that the immunity is just covering up how bad the bill is.

It gives Bush more power than he had before.

[robinlynne]

8. To me the ikmmunity is key. the rest can be changed next year. But if given immunity, the court case

cases will all be thrown out and nothing in the world can fix that. I'm not so worried about the level of spying right now. I figure the elvel of spying is 100% on everyone. I DO care about bringing all the truth out, which will only happen through those court cases. that's where the shit is.

[Leopolds Ghost]

15. Agreed. Excellent analysis.

[The Magistrate]

21. Hear Hear, Ma'am

[Breeze54]

6. No, 15 Senators including Reid filibusted it....

Reid already said there were other more pressing matters, like health care (Medicaid) and other things.

[robinlynne]

7. and 80 voted for cloture and the 15 lost immediately.

They were filibustering cloture, i.e. they (we) did not want to bring the bill to the floor. We lost. in an ugly way.
obama and clinton did not even vote.

[robinlynne]

9. That was yesterday. Today Feingold asked Reid for more time. Reid agreed.

But the filibuster to NOT bring the bill to the floor failed.

[Breeze54]

10. They delayed the vote today!! - I'm glad they did!

Maybe this will give us more time to e-mail and call and tell them

to vote NO and give them more time to actually read it!! :grr:

Reid said, a few days ago, that the vote may be delayed until after the 4th of July holiday.

[robinlynne]

13. Russ Feingold got the vote delayed. Feingold and Dodd.

Dodd is preparing an ammendment to remove immunity.

[RoyGBiv]

11. Here's the thing ...

The cloture vote was on a motion (to proceed) that the vast majority of the time gets through on a voice vote. In other words, the fact there was even a recorded vote on that was remarkable. We didn't lose anything in an "ugly" way. "Ugly" would have been had this motion passed on the standard voice vote.

And now we have an opportunity to delay this thing.

This delay is intentional, orchestrated by the Senate leadership.

Yes, it's going to pass, and we can blame several Democrats and almost ALL Republicans for that. But, it's being fought, through back channels and parliamentary procedure.

[Subdivisions]

4. Dems ran out the clock presenting comments on other matters. n/t

[warren pease]

12. I guess I'm ignorant of how this stuff works, but...

... isn't it true that the bill only comes up for a vote if Reid allows it?

In other words, is it true that all this crap about filibustering and cloture votes, even Pelosi's own FISA cave-in moment -- all that doesn't matter if he just keeps the damn thing in his back pocket?

If that's true, what's his excuse? Is getting slandered by Fux Nudes a good enough reason to let the Bushies completely off the hook once again?

News for Harry: They'll slander you no matter what you do, so you might as well earn their cheap shots and demonizing.

The idea that his actions will let telecoms off the hook is bad enough. But all that, plus giving the Bushies another victory and another free pass, should be so embarrassing and damaging to what's left of his credibility and self-esteem that you'd think he'd tell the whole nest of criminals to piss off.

But that's not why Harry got his current job. He got it, as Pelosi got hers, because they can be relied upon to subvert any congressional actions that might cause even a momentary delay in advancing the Bushies/PNAC empire-building agenda.

Damned if they don't take those roles seriously. If that means war against the American people, it's a small price to pay compared with alienating the corporate slime bags who bribe them every election cycle to make sure they don't mess with the status quo.

They say -- or at least Tom Wolfe says -- that satire is dead because not even the most creative writers can compete with the non-stop madness of real life. Hard to argue against that one.


wp

[robinlynne]

14. He allowed it! He voted yes to bring it to the floor! Look at the votes from

yesterday. It is only delayed because FEINGOLD convinced Reid to delay it. Feingold put a hold on it to write the Dodd ammendment.
period.

Reid has already shown that he is not going to do what you suggest. he stood there yesterday complaing about how he wanted the bill on the floor and voted on yesterday!

[warren pease]

16. Do you have any idea why? n/t

[robinlynne]

18. the why is way beyond me. You can call his office and ask his aides.

[warren pease]

19. I'd rather stick hot chopsticks into my eyes...

I've called before and I either get a simpleton twit reading from a Q&A or a pompous asshole who knows way more than me and wastes no opportunity to demonstrate it. So to display this vast knowledge, he too reads off the Q&A.

Useless bastards. But I guess that's who you'd expect to find working for another useless bastard.


wp

[robinlynne]

20. great answer!!!!!!

[orleans]

17. ugh.

(The Politico) House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last week’s FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org.

In March, the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity. But last week, 94 Democrats who supported the March amendment voted to support the compromise FISA legislation, which includes a provision that could let telecom companies that cooperated with the government’s warrantless electronic surveillance off the hook.

The 94 Democrats who changed their positions received on average $8,359 in contributions from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint from January, 2005, to March, 2008, according to the analysis by MAPLight, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the connection between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.

Retroactive immunity could squash about 40 lawsuits pending against telecommunication companies that helped the government monitor the telecommunications traffic of Americans without warrants. The telecom industry has lobbied hard to insure that the provision is included in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act update Congress is currently considering.

Nick Papas, spokesman for the House Democratic Caucus, said, “Many members of the caucus opposed the earlier version of this legislation and ultimately supported better legislation that was the product of bipartisan negotiations. Months of hard work, not campaign contributions, earned the support of many members.”

MAPLight executive director Daniel Newman agreed that there are many factors that affect a lawmaker’s vote but, unlike pressure from constituents, campaign cash is not a “democratic influence.”

The 116 Democrats who remained opposed to telecom immunity received an average of $4,987 from the telecoms during the three-year period, the analysis showed.

more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4206495.shtml