Posted on 02/09/2011 3:09:10 AM PST by broken_arrow1
It was the Congressional version of never count your chickens before they're hatched.
And when you do on Capitol Hill, you can sometimes lose a vote.
The newly-minted House Republican leadership botched a vote Tuesday night when it presumed it had the necessary support to reauthorize the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law imposed after September 11th.
The GOP expected little trouble with the bill. So Republicans brought the Patriot Act to the floor under a special procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for passage. It's a maneuver that's typically reserved for non-controversial legislation or bills that carry wide support.
Renewing that Patriot Act had certainly had wide support. 277 members voted in favor of the measure compared to just 148 nays.
But that's short of the two-thirds supermajority. Which means the House defeated the bill.
With 425 members voting, 284 yea votes were necessary to cross the two-thirds threshold for passage. 26 Republicans voted against renewing the law.
Democrats opposed to the Patriot Act were gleeful at the GOP miscalculation.
"Look at the Don't Tread on Me flag.' It doesn't say don't tread on me, but it's okay if you spy," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), one of the most ardent opponents of the Patriot Act. "What the Republican leadership didn't count on is that they have some new members who are freshmen who are conservative, libertarian, who really do believe in civil liberties."
Eight Republicans whom the GOP regards as freshmen voted against the reauthorization. That's precisely the number of yea votes Republicans needed to pass the bill.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) used to set the schedule when Democrats were in the majority and is familiar with floor meltdowns like the one Tuesday night.
But despite the misstep, Republicans blamed Democrats for the defeat.
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.blogs.foxnews.com ...
I agree.
LLS
Your safety can never be one hundred percent guaranteed.
If we are to remain a free and open society, there will of necessity be gaps which can be utilized by terrorists.
Our best preventative against terrorism is the guarantee of massive and swift punishment of those who support and enable the terrorists.
And Im sure a nuke or dirty bomb going off will teach them all a lesson...right?
Yes, they should have secured our border.
I see...Yeah...maybe a million casualties will teach the libtards a lesson...
So you’ll freak out over having your e-mail sniffed....
The lives of your fellow Americans?
bah...screw em..
Well then...in all honesty....I sincerely hope it’s YOUR city and not mine.
See the difference here is...I wouldnt only snoop in your e-mails to save American lives...I’d waterboard you...hell I’d waterboard my own mother...
There are good men doing vile deeds so you can sleep in peace at night...
“Not in your name” my ass...
After reading about this last night and this morning, I can confidently state that this is only a temporary setback for the police state. They have plenty of support for extending this unconstitutional and unamerican piece of garbage extended, and they will.
Agree.
I defended the patriot act when it first came out. I was wrong. It may have prevented terrorist acts and that is a good thing. It can’t go on forever though. We just cannot give this type of power to our government no matter who is in charge.
Freedom and liberty once given away, rarely if ever are restored without violent revolutions.
Are you threatening me with violence?
Your safety can never be one hundred percent guaranteed.
If we are to remain a free and open society, there will of necessity be gaps which can be utilized by terrorists.
Our best preventative against terrorism is the guarantee of massive and swift punishment of those who support and enable the terrorists.
Using this same logic...smokes alarms dont stop fires from happening ..thus they are useless...
The terrorist dont give a crap how many of them you kill dumbass...it’s a HOLY WAR.
It’s DEATH CULT.....they WANT armegedden...they think it will bring their messiah....
You only have two realistic choices...
Intercept them...
Or react to their attacks AFTER they happen...
Your third obvious choice would be genocide....but seeing as you cant stomach someone peeping at your e-mail...I doubt you have the stones for genocide.
You cant fight religious fanatics with cold war deterance...
I heard the “yeah but a liberal might get into office “ crap already...years ago...
I dont care....if they misuse the tools...then hammer them for it...
Dont throw away the tools.
They don’t need bombs anymore. They are killing our civilization by out breeding us, by using our own laws to advance their religion and to crush Christianity.
The Muslims seem to be fond of authoritarian regimes that squash personal freedom and liberty. Kind of like the direction our government is headed. We’re doing the work for them I suppose.
Id waterboard you
Are you threatening me with violence?
No cornholio...I’m not threatening you...
Are you really that stupid?
You have to pull that out of context?
The FULL quote:
I see...Yeah...maybe a million casualties will teach the libtards a lesson...
So youll freak out over having your e-mail sniffed....
The lives of your fellow Americans?
bah...screw em..
Well then...in all honesty....I sincerely hope its YOUR city and not mine.
See the difference here is...I wouldnt only snoop in your e-mails to save American lives...Id waterboard you...hell Id waterboard my own mother...
There are good men doing vile deeds so you can sleep in peace at night...
Not in your name my ass...
If you are going to quote me...quote me...
Dont play libtard games of taking stuff out of context to pretend I made some kind of threat and run to admin...
That’s beyond LAME.
We’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
Indeed. It's worth noting that the bill had already been written prior to 9/11. They simply used 9/11 as an excuse to implement their totalitarian wet dream.
“I don’t need to google it. You supplied a link that inferred that because of the Pat Act, 30 terrorist were captured. You can only come up with 1, is that all?”
Jesus christ....I’m so sick of Freepers going LIBTARD when it comes to certain topics...
Putting your hands on your hips and smirking “prove it”...
I showed you ONE CLEAR CASE already....but that is meaningless to you...
How many do I need to show to “prove it”...or will this be a sliding goal post?
If I have to spend the next hour doing YOUR RESEARCH it better be worth my time...
Really? It was my understanding that the cold medicine law was tacked onto the Patriot Act. That’s what all the signs at the drug stores say...
What a mess THAT is.....regular everyday people can’t get COLD MEDICINE because some hopped up methheads use it. The replacement medicines don’t work, and I have to give the damned government my name to get my nose decongested. The whole thing is just as stupid as you would expect any government idea to be, right up there with toilet bowls that don’t flush correctly and light bulbs that don’t work.
/rant (sorry driftdriver...)
Regards,
I know what you mean, TomGuy. The whole thing is ridiculous, and it SHOULD change.
Regards,
I dunno, I’m allergic to the main ingredient in the medicines you are referring too. Soo I welcome the law as it helps others share my misery at cold time.
:)
“Were just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.”
No...we arent...
If YOU ARE WRONG...YOU will have to live with it...not me...
There is no “right side” of the argument concerning the loss of an American City...
Yes...it’s the worse case senario...but worse case senarios happen...
And the muslims dont lack the will...they only lack the means....
Anyone who thinks Al Q isnt trying to get it’s hands on a nuke is an idiot.
It’s not exactly a secret.
They will eventually buy or build one...
You are Twisted and Evil, drift....but you’re funny, though!
Regards,
If Dubya had wanted to WIN the war on terror, and I mean WIN it decisively, he had the American public totally behind him on 12 Sept 2001.
He chose to piss away that opportunity, Patriot Act or no Patriot Act.
And Obama, with all that power in his hands, will use it against American patriots, not jihadis.
So the Patriot Act has been pretty much inconsequential in stamping out Islamicism.
Your problem is that you still believe our government has our best interest at stake. You don’t seem to think that the powers in the patriot act will not be abused.
Our government has shown again and again that they will overextend and use government powers to perpetuate their main purpose which is to maintain power.
We have already seen the media imply that the TEA party is as much of a risk to America as a terrorist group. It’s just the media saying it, but I would bet that government officials are thinking it.
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