Clinton, Obama to Come Back to DC for FISA Vote

[Ichingcarpenter]

Mods, not really a primary comment but a first amendment vote.

Per Jane Hamsher, Hillary Clinton will be there at 4:30 tomorrow to vote on FISA. I spoke with Hillary Clinton on Saturday and she told me she would speak out about the issue tomorrow (meaning Sunday). I'm unaware if she did so, but she also said that she would come back to the Senate to vote if her vote was necesssary. So hopefully the Senators are counting votes and are finding these votes necessary. Obama will also be there to vote, so they could be pulling out all the stops for cloture.

Hooray. Hopefully this will be a start of multiple positive trends from all our leaders.


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08/75144/

[lapfog_1]

1. Hopefully she votes whether or not her vote is necessary... - n/t

[rateyes]

2. Let's see if they will stand beside Dodd and filibuster

the bill.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. That is the question or will they stand with Reed.

There was front page ad asking them to show and I'm glad they both
decided to come back to DC.

From TPM
So.... what's going to happen this afternoon? The Senate will hold it's much anticipated cloture vote, and we'll see if the Republicans will be able to lure over enough Dems over to get to 60. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) will be present to cast their "No" votes. If the vote fails, it seems likely that Reid will try for a vote on that 30-day extension. (For it's part, the House is set to hold a vote on a 30-day extension today.)

As for what happens at that point, I'll be the first to confess that I have no idea. We'll keep you updated.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005149.php

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. What's at stake today in the Senate's FISA filibuster vote-Glenn Greenwald

If the Democrats had even the slightest strategic sense and/or courage -- just the slightest amount -- this is a political confrontation they would be uncontrollably eager to have. Just imagine if they sustain the filibuster today and instead pass a 30-day extension of the PAA, and then Bush vetoes it, knowingly choosing to leave the intelligence community without the ability to Listen In When Osama Is Calling. It would be the height of political stupidity for Democrats to be afraid of that outcome.

* * * * *

That's what is at stake today as Senate Democrats try to sustain a filibuster against the Republicans' efforts to force a final vote on the truly pernicious Senate Intelligence Committee bill. Are there any limits at all on the willingness of Congressional Democrats to be bullied and humiliated by Republicans, even by the most transparently disingenuous tactics such as these? FDL has the contact information for calling and faxing the Senators who appear to be key for sustaining the filibuster, and Jane Hamsher reports that -- almost certainly due to public pressure -- both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama are going to be present for the vote today in order to vote for the filibuster. The vote is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST and I'll be live-blogging the events today here.

The veto threat from the President is so unbelievably corrupt and manipulative that if our national press had even the smallest amount of critical faculties and understanding of the issues, that veto threat would be a major story. After all, how can the President possibly threaten the country that he will veto a law that he himself has claimed for months is indispensable for Protecting Us All?

snip....

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/28/bush_fisa/

[ThomWV]

5. She'll be there at 4:30, the debate on the bill starts at 2:00. Better late than never I suppose.