Posted on 12/16/2005 9:47:11 AM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans' privacy, dealing a major defeat to President Bush and Republican leaders.
In a crucial vote Friday morning as Congress raced toward adjournment, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome a threatened filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47
Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and GOP congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent, and add new safeguards and expiration dates to the two most controversial parts: roving wiretaps and secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries.
Making most of the act's provisions permanent was a priority for both the Bush administration and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourns for the year.
The House on Wednesday passed a House-Senate compromise bill to renew the Act that supporters say added significant safeguards to the law.
But the law's critics, such as Feingold and Craig, say they don't want the Patriot Act to expire — they just want enough time to improve the bill to the point where it doesn't infringe on American liberties. Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have said they won't accept a short-term extension of the law.
"In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said earlier today before the Senate vote.
Congress passed the Patriot Act overwhelmingly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The law expanded the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers.
The bill's opponents say the original act was rushed into law, and Congress should take more time now to make sure the rights of innocent Americans are safeguarded before making most of the expiring provisions permanent.
They say the current Patriot Act gives government too much power to investigate people's private lives.
You really need to change your screen name. You haven't stated one libertarian (big L or little l) position this entire thread. A libertarian would stand for freedom and liberty over safety (as is the correct position).
"Absolute Ideologues" can never play politics and can never win.
I'd love to see that:
My fellow Americans. In the aftermath of 9/11, the Justice Department submitted its wish list of powers to the Congress, wishes that had been previously rejected. However, in the panic ensuing 9/11, we were able to get it passed. Unfortunately, some pesky legislators managed to get a sunset clause inserted.Now that the public has had time to cool their heads and take a real look at the Patriot Act, people are asking that we not renew certain controversial provisions. Don't believe it! Terrorists are at our doorstep! Remain in panic and fear so we can get this thing made permanent.
If it is not made permanent, I will blame the Democrats for the next attack, and hope you forget that I have implemented few of the security measures suggested after 9/11 and done nothing to stop the flow of terrorists into our country. Strike that, I managed to prevent that evil bloodthirsty terrorist Cat Stevens from entering the country. You are now safe. You will not have to listen to Moon Shadow again.
No, you're Republican. Big difference between Republicans and conservatives. And that gap grows ever larger by the day.
No, in this case it's the loser terrorist sympathizer position. Anyone who gives up fundamental national security for some temporary liberty deserves neither. And there can be no doubt, the road "libertarians" like you would take us down is a road of temporary liberty.
If you fail to keep up, don't blame others.
The administration and various congressional reps have, in speeches and announcements made references to successful terrorist apprehensions, some specific, that resulted from provisions of the patriot act.
Use Lexis-Nexis to search for them; the reports are out there.
Not. Capitol Hill Blue has always published sensationalized unsourced and unverified bogus claims about the goings on in the White House. It's as reliable as the "Weekly World News."
Agreed. At least on the procedure. My point is about keeping it in public view as long as possable. Most of the public ignore this as a slight noise that is not wort their time to worry about. It needs to be elevated to their attention as was the resolution to cut and run. When it was a political game based on bluff the dems made hay. When the Republicans brought it to a vote it suddenly had everyones attention.
Homeland Security Agents Visit Toy Store
Associated Press | October 29 2004
ST. HELENS, Ore. - So far as she knows, Pufferbelly Toys owner Stephanie Cox hasn't been passing any state secrets to sinister foreign governments, or violating obscure clauses in the Patriot Act.
So she was taken aback by a mysterious phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to her small store in this quiet Columbia River town just north of Portland.
"I was shaking in my shoes," Cox said of the September phone call. "My first thought was the government can shut your business down on a whim, in my opinion. If I'm closed even for a day that would cause undue stress."
When the two agents arrived at the store, the lead agent asked Cox whether she carried a toy called the Magic Cube, which he said was an illegal copy of the Rubik's Cube, one of the most popular toys of all time.
He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.
After the agents left, Cox called the manufacturer of the Magic Cube, the Toysmith Group, which is based in Auburn, Wash. A representative told her that Rubik's Cube patent had expired, and the Magic Cube did not infringe on the rival toy's trademark.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agents went to Pufferbelly based on a trademark infringement complaint filed in the agency's intellectual property rights center in Washington, D.C.
"One of the things that our agency's responsible for doing is protecting the integrity of the economy and our nation's financial systems and obviously trademark infringement does have significant economic implications," she said.
Six weeks after her brush with Homeland Security, Cox told The Oregonian she is still bewildered by the experience.
"Aren't there any terrorists out there?" she said.
Never been a republican, and have no inclination to be one now. Sorry, but conservatives come in many stripes. Some think a court order allowing the feds to investigate your suspicious activities is the barometer, others think abortion is the #1 issue. Still others think fidelity to the constitution is the most important thing. That is me.
Just because I don't agree with my party on ALL things, doesn't mean I'm not a Libertarian. I'm just not a sheep. I agree with almost everything else the LP stands for, except this issue - just like Neal Boortz.
I'm all for liberty, but not at the risk of handcuffing us from stopping terrorists from killing us.
One of the few roles the federal governments is supposed to have is to protect its citizens. If they have to listen in on the phone calls of some Arab living in the United States, that's fine with me. Hey. It's not an ideal situation, but as far as travesties perpetrated against mankind in our history, it's hardly at the top of the list.
Get me talking about any other issue - immigration, drugs, economics - and trust me, you'll see I'm a libertarian. Like I said - I'm not a sheep like many people in this forum.
No one accepted Capitol Hill Blue's reporting on Clinton as accurate except in the cases where other reporting verified it, such as Lisa Myers interviews with Juanita Broadderick. CHB's Bush reports are unsourced, unverified, and frankly just made up with no other news organization reporting the same information.
I guess you weren't around here when CHB was going after Clinton...The FReepers cited it as a reliable source.
The only difference now is that there is an R in the White House.
You made the claim. I didn't. Back it up with facts and figures and don't be so obnoxious.
Nothing more than the bio at the end of the article you referenced. Capital Hill Blue has been around for quite some time. No one who was at that meeting has denied what was quoted for a week now and considering the potential political damage that could result from such a stupid, arrogant statement, I tend to think it must be accurate.
Very interesting. I know DHS got Customs, and is now responsible for catching imported knock-offs that violate patents and copyrights, but don't they at least check the veracity of a claim before enforcing it? I wonder if their ability to check validity is so lax for the cases where they may "detain" people for serious crimes.
BTW, I wonder if the owner could subpoena the source of the complaint and sue both them and DHS.
And even if you bring something to a vote in the Senate, the minority always has the opportunity to amend and muddy up the message, which is not the case in the House. Which is why you won't see a cut-and-run resolution offered in the Senate.
How do we own the senate.
You need 60 votes to own the senate. A majority in the senate is 60 votes not 50 votes.
I wish this were Slashdot so I could moderate that post "Insightful."
Was just using my moderator points over there, and instinctively looked for moderating this one up.
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