GOP Trick Could Derail FISA Fix

[babylonsister]

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/house_gopers_make_bid_to_derail_fisa_legislation.php

House GOPers Make Bid To Derail FISA Legislation
By Greg Sargent - October 17, 2007, 4:28PM

Today the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on its FISA legislation. Members have been speaking on the floor throughout the day, and the vote was supposed to happen around now.

But it looks as if Republicans, who oppose the current FISA measure, may have come up with a way of trying to scuttle the bill.

GOP Rep. Eric Cantor has just revealed on his Web site that he's planning on introducing the following add-on measure to the bill later today:

Today, we will be offering an amendment to the legislation to clarify that nothing in the bill "shall be construed to prohibit the intelligence community from conducting surveillance needed to prevent Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or any other foreign terrorist organization…from attacking the United States or any United States person."

Cantor is presenting this as an effort to determine whether Dems really want to protect America or not. "Let’s put all Members of Congress on the record," he writes in a post accompanying the amendment. "Which do they care more about, pleasing their MoveOn.org liberal base or making sure America is safe and secure?"

But as you can see, this measure, with its incredibly broad language, would appear to be legally meaningless. It effectively says that the intelligence community is free to do whatever surveillance it wants, provided it can be justified as needed to prevent a terror attack in some fashion or other. It doesn't appear to be serious legislative language, just a procedural maneuver designed to throw a wrench into the works.

The word from House Dem aides is that Cantor intends to introduce this as part of a motion to recommit "promptly," rather than "forthwith." Stripping away the mumbo-jumbo, our best understanding of this so far is that it would send the bill back to committee, rather than out on to the floor for a vote. This would bottle up the bill and delay the process an untold amount of time.

Dems are likely to object to the prospect of this delay -- and not the language itself, as it has no legal meaning -- though Republicans clearly plan to spin any Dem objection to this as Dems not wanting to protect America.

It's unclear as yet how the House Dem leadership will respond. Cantor says on his blog that "House Democrats are holding the FISA bill off the floor, scrambling to figure out how to respond." House Dem aides say no decision has been made by leadership whether to yank the bill in response or whether to pursue another course.

More soon.

[blondeatlast]

1. This is America, folks. Policy dictated by politics--and how it'll play on the idiotbox.

And no matter what the Dems do, they'll get blasted in the media.

Gotta give the basids credit; they play the game much better than we Dems do.

:banghead:

[blondeatlast]

2. Gotta leave the board for awhile, but this merits DU attention, so

:kick:

[tkmorris]

3. This SHOULD be an easy one to vote down

But I really wouldn't be surprised if a handful of Dems voted for it lest they look soft.

Kicked.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. I'll take that one step further and say I fully expect them to

Not all Dems are created equal.

[KoKo]

5. You forget...Our Dems often get Blindsided by tactics such as these and

go back into offices...call a few folks...scramble for caucus then come back and give Repugs what they wanted.

It's been their pattern. I hope to heck, I'm wrong on this one...that they didn't see what was coming ...but sadly they seem so clueless in their honest of not seeing things...one starts to wonder if it's just "feigned innocence." :shrug:

[babylonsister]

6. They've stopped voting for the evening; I don't know if this is one

reason why.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/17/restore-act-vote-postponed/

[KoKo]

7. Not looking good...here's what one commenter on post says:

She promised to fix FISA, but she knew then she wouldn’t have the votes. It was a promise she knew she couldn’t keep.

I think what makes me most angry is remembering how proud I was to see her, the first woman, take the gavel, and then to look at her now. I can hear people say it - a woman can’t handle the job. All her tough talk results in mealy-mouthed “compromise” and “bipartisanship.” Screw bipartisanship! Listen to the people, for God’s sake. When you have 70%+ behind you, what are you so scared of?

Makes you wonder that with a comfortable MAJORITY in the HOUSE that a creep like Eric Cantor (have you seen this guy?...bad news) could shut down a vote. WHERE IS THE POWER...it doesn't seem to reside with the Majority...on these Bills and Votes...but with the interloper/disruptors like Repug Op Eric Cantor.

Something is VERY WRONG.... We sense it...but can't get enough of a handle to refute those who say "ALL IS GOOD...DEMS ARE IN CONTROL!" We still don't have all the pieces of the puzzle, IMHO...after all these years. :-(

[babylonsister]

8. Here's an update:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2071745&mesg_id=2071745

[KoKo]

9. Ugh....I replied over there on your link.

but...it seems to get worse and worse. Delaying the Bill means the rest of the week's coverage allows Repugs to be all over C-Span and Faux carrying on about how weak the Dems are on Terrorism...and they will faint and clutch their pearls and Bush wins again... No wonder he says he won't be leaving the WH..

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. but FISA expires. And is no more.

which means they cannot continue spying on you and me.

[babylonsister]

11. I think you're wrong; did you see the update upthread? nt

[robinlynne]

12. It has a built in clause which contninues it for an extra 12 months beyond the six months for

all phoen numbers they manage to tap in the first 6 months. So if we let it be, they can tap all phones right through the election of next year. It says 6 months, but it is 18 months if the 6 months are not extended. sneaky republican thing. that teh democrats hastily signed, to "fix' later.

[Elspeth]

14. Yikes

..

[robinlynne]

13. after january of 2010.

[Quantess]

15. Here's some cheerful good news for early morning. (no text)