[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Back to serious business!

[NonValueAdded]

Gotta have that trial lawyer cash for November, don’tcha know.

[KoRn]

Good! I don’t think the telecoms should be immune from such lawsuits. The government should do it’s own spying, and the telecoms should focus on how to provide me with better service.

[Williams]

Absolute nonsense, the companies didn’t just do this “w/o court approval” as the article says, they did it in accordance with the legislation Congress passed. To have the companies sued for cooperating with a government security program is a nasty little bit of backhanded democrat treason.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Wasn’t there a bit of telecom eavesdropping involved in snagged “Hunka-Hunka Burnin’ Love” Spitzer?

[Lord Basil]

But they offered the companies an olive branch: the chance to use classified government documents to defend themselves in court.

After all, the documents are classified for no particular reason in the first place.

The House bill also would create a bipartisan commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the Bush administration's secret wiretapping program.

That mean they'll follow the "Gorelick rule" when choosing members of the commission?

[shrinkermd]

The best argument against the House Democrats is an emotional one. Focus on how they pander to the trial lawyers and sell their country out for 30 pieces of silver. That is what they do. Everyone would understand that.

[IrishCatholic]

Terrorists and sympathizers on the run in Iraq and Afghanistan but making gains in Congress. News at 11...

[Lancey Howard]

House Democrats Reject Telecom Immunity

LOL, those scumbags know who butters their bread - - the "jackpot justice" trial lawyers!

[originalbuckeye]

I'll just BET the House Dems are willing to let the Telecom companies use CLASSIFIED documents in court. Anything to get the country's secrets out in the open. I wish GWB had fired all the Clintonistas in early 2001. It has been a tough 7 years fighting them with one hand tied behind his back.

[Bob J]

“...maintained their refusal to shield from civil lawsuits...”

How much did this cost the trial lawyers in donations to the dems?

[tobyhill]

Veto! The traitors don’t deserve to have their “compromise” even looked at.

[Rosemont]

Trial lawyer donations or America’s security. Dems always go against America’s security.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest. Are the Demwits *kidding* now?

Locked in a standoff with the White House, House Democrats on Tuesday maintained their refusal to shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without a secret court's permission. But they offered the companies an olive branch: the chance to use classified government documents to defend themselves in court... The House bill also would create a bipartisan commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the Bush administration's secret wiretapping program. The legislation drew swift criticism from congressional Republicans and from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, who said it fails to fix problems with the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress is trying to update. They also said any bill that does not provide telecom immunity is unacceptable to the Bush administration.