John mentioned our new coalition, Strange Bedfellows, earlier and I can’t reiterate more strongly the need to fight Blue Dogs like Steny Hoyer, so if you can donate, please do so. Think of the message it sends to Congress that we are willing to fight our own if they don’t represent us and our Democratic values the way they should.
Steny Hoyer’s “compromise” on FISA is odd, to put it mildly–infuriating to put it accurately. With a majority in the Senate, why the need for a compromise? Is it that Hoyer is just afraid not to be invited to any more cocktail parties by his Republican brethren? Even the NY Times calls it ridiculous. Booman:
Glenn Greenwald has been leading the charge against Steny Hoyer’s FISA capitulation plan. It’s very comforting to see that the New York Times’ editorial board agrees with us that Hoyer’s plan is an outrage:
[..]The bill is not a compromise. The final details are being worked out, but all indications are that many of its provisions are both unnecessary and a threat to the Bill of Rights. The White House and the Congressional Republicans who support the bill have two real aims. They want to undermine the power of the courts to review the legality of domestic spying programs. And they want to give a legal shield to the telecommunications companies that broke the law by helping Mr. Bush carry out his warrantless wiretapping operation.
Bingo. The editorial goes on to detail the sham more thoroughly. The big ‘concession’ in this deal is that the matter of retroactive immunity for telecom corporations will be decided in a federal district court rather than in the ultra-secret FISA court.[..]
Here’s the meat of this issue. All electronic surveillance involving U.S. citizens must be carried out in accordance with the FISA law. And, provided that the law is followed there can be no liability for telecom corporations or anyone else that provides assistance. That’s laid out here(emphasis mine):
(i) Bar to legal action
No cause of action shall lie in any court against any provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person (including any officer, employee, agent, or other specified person thereof) that furnishes any information, facilities, or technical assistance in accordance with a court order or request for emergency assistance under this chapter for electronic surveillance or physical search.
Good God, is this why we elected a Democratic majority in 2006? So they can continue to enable the Bush administration as more and more independent sources have verified the criminality that we’ve claimed correctly all along?
UPDATE 1: CQ Politics and WSJ are reporting the deal is done. Hoyer, capitulating until the end, tries to spin it:
Hoyer said that if a deal was finalized, he would support it, even though he ” would not like it.” He said he would have preferred the original House version of the legislation which didn’t include retroactive immunity for the phone companies.
But he said that if a compromise bill wasn’t brought forward, pressure would come from the Democratic caucus to allow a vote on the Senate version of the legislation which includes full retroactive immunity for the phone companies.[..]
“No matter how they spin it, it is still immunity, period,” said Kevin Bankston, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group involved in the lawsuits.
Don’t take this lying down. McJoan has some ideas of what you can do, including asking our new putative head of the Democratic Party, Presidential Nominee Barack Obama, to kill this before it comes to a vote:
Call Barack Obama and urge him to make a public statement reiterating his opposition to telco amnesty. His opposition could kill this deal: Phone (202) 224-2854, Fax (202) 228-4260
Call Steny Hoyer and tell him this is a bad deal: Phone (202) 225-4131, Fax (202) 225-4300
Call Nancy Pelosi and urge her to pull the bill from the House schedule: Phone (202) 225-4965, Fax (202) 225-8259
Call your representative and tell them to vote no on the FISA rewrite tomorrow.
UPDATE 2: Empty Wheel has more:
As Glenn says, the “immunity” provision here sucks ass. Here’s the operative language:
[A] civil action may not lie or be maintained in a Federal or State court against any person for providing assistance to an element of the intelligence community, and shall be properly dismissed, if the Attorney General certifies to the district court of the United States in which such action is pending that
[snip]
(4) the assistance alleged to have been provided by the electronic communication service provider was –
(A) in connection with intelligence activity involving communications that was (i) authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007 and (ii) designed to prevent or detect a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation of a terrorist attack, against the United States” and
(B) the subject of a written request or directive, or a series of written requests or directives, from the Attorney General or the head of an element of the intelligence community (or the deputy of such person) to the electronic communication service provider indicating that the activity was (i) authorized by the President; and (ii) determined to be lawful.
Contrary to what the WSJ suggested, this provision puts no restrictions on whether the directives were authorized by anyone but the President–all it takes to get off scott free, in this bill, is for the President to have said the program was legal, regardless of whether it was or the whether the telecoms should have questioned whether the directives were legal.
No Trackbacks To “Fight Hoyer’s Compromise: UPDATED 1 & 2“
compromise?
more like a steny sell-out, fold and capitulation, all wrapped in one fat eggroll.
steny, i hope you find yourself on the unemployment line in the near future. the country would be better off that way.
Oh well, it looks like the Republicans will be in charge for the next 4 years no matter who is elected…
I’m sure he got his before agreeing to this. The problem with pols is that they can ALL be bought, including little Obama.
Hoyer must be voted out of the House at the earliest opportunity. These fake Democrats are selling out America.
Years ago, I commuted a lot by car. The last time I ever listened to Rush Limbaugh (before AirAmerica Radio) he said: “I look forward to the day when the Democratic Party is on the tash heap of history.” I thought what a sick, unamerican thing to say and hope for.
It’s happened.
Senator Barack Obama
Campaign: 866-675-2008 option 6 keep trying
His office Fax: 202-228-4260 I got through earlier
Nancy Pelosi: Her web page is down, Congress not Speaker. http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
FAX: 202-225-4188
Free online faxing: http://faxzero.com/ (two per day free per email address)
Years ago, I commuted a lot by car. The last time I ever listened to Rush Limbaugh (before AirAmerica Radio) he said: “I look forward to the day when the Democratic Party is on the trash heap of history.” I thought what a sick, unamerican thing to say and hope for.
It’s happened.
(would be nice if we could edit our comments….)
Write, call, whatever! Make it strong!!
Dear Representative Johnson,
I am writing in strong protest of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to be immediately submitted to the House of Representatives.
This legislation is being sold to the Congress and public alike as a bipartisan effort to “make us more safe”. There is nothing more misleading than the subversion of Constitutional rights under the guise of civil protection, where it is in reality a bipartisan effort to protect criminality and strip Americans of privacy.
If you give support to this monstocity, I will give my full support to notifying the voters of Illinois 15th congressional district of the nature of your vote and what it means to our law, our freedoms and our future.
This issue is of utmost importance to all citizens, and cannot be allowed to be slipped past an uninformed public.
Please consider this vote carefully. Our great nation must not be sold out!
Bushie @ 6:
And what are we supposed to say?
Stop!?
Ryan in IL @ 8:
Too late. It already has been bought and sold. I’m afraid the only remedy now is armed insurrection.
Really. The Constitution has been trampled. There are no checks and balances. What’s left to do?
I faxed letters to Stainy Whorer, Pelosi and Obama.
This bill sells out right for which countless of hundreds of thousands of Americans since the founding of our country have died. Our Constitution is written with the blood of patriots and its very foundation stands on the backs of those who laid down their lives protecting it. This capitulation dishonors all those people and disrespects the living who depend on our Constitutional guarantees of liberty to remain free.
That was the essence of the letter with lots of other objections and exhortations. We could use Hillary’s four testicles about now. I hope my man Obama steps up (but I kinda doubt it.)
Liberty is dead.
A pox on all who killed it.
I’m not a lawyer (or very smart), but would this stand up to the Supreme Court? Even THIS SC?
I’ll be watching President Obama closely next year to see if he can REALLY change Washington by avoiding being co-opted by corporate whores like Hoyer and Pelosi. Hoyer needs to be voted out just like his Republican thug cronies.
Can someone research this? Which telco (or telcos) have little Stenny in their back pocket?
this deal is done…..behind closed door negotiations….
this admnistration has too much power as do the telecom cos……….subsides and taxation…best congress money can buy….nice short opinion
http://antifascist-calling.blo.....on-to.html
You knew it was coming.
Washington is the wild west without a sheriff.
casper46 @ 13:
Maybe not, but the point is someone will have to take it to them. In the meantime, all the current lawsuits against the telcos get put on hold (if we’re lucky) or smacked down (if we’re not). Even if the court overturns it, it’ll take time, effort, money, and someone to step up. Better to kill it before it gets that far.
whoever votes for this should have their names posted so opposition to their next run for office is bitterly contested nothing like a 2 party system to the same type of governance only under different brands all that is different is the packaging
Maybe the (supposed demos) should look at what the party is suppose to be and follow that and have their oath of office posted in their offices so they can see what it is they swore to defend
Evan Bayh of Indiana is bought and paid for as well.
theWalrus @ 10:
True that it’s been bought and sold, but the vote has not happened yet. By giving up, we would be as low as those who will “give up” and support it on the floor.
While I have contacted the Obama office and remember CALL YOUR OWN REPS CALL YOUR OWN REPS. There is so much to this story that we do not know. WHY WOULD THE DEMS GO ALONG WITH THIS WHY WOULD THEY ROLL OVER AND BEG? Hoyer, Pelosi and the rest have either been complicit or there is a great deal more to the “Enemies are within the gates” piece that they are not letting us know about.
THIS IS GOING TO BE SO BAD FOR THE DEMS WHY ARE THEY ROLLING OVER AND BEGGING? THIS IS GOING TO HURT THEM IN THE FALL. THERE HAS TO BE A REAL THREAT OF A VERY SERIOUS NATURE OR THEY OR THEIR COMPLICITY IN THE PAST IS BEYOND BELIEF
CALL YOUR OWN REPS.
Also over at INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE A GREAT DEAL BEING WRITTEN ABOUT THE ISRAELI HAMAS NEGOTIATIONS. ALSO A GREAT DEAL ABOUT ATTACKING IRAN. HAS THE U.S. AND ISRAEL STRUCK A DEAL WE WILL GO ALONG WITH A PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE ON IRAN IF THEY WILL DEAL WITH HAMAS? SOMETHING IS IN THE WORKS
Congressional Dems and GOPers are simply two sides of the same coin. The Dems didn’t give it. They wanted this just as badly as the GOPers. They are all, with few exceptions, craven and treasonous slime.
Anyone who votes for the “We will continue to Spy on Americans” needs to be outed and kicked out of office.
Yes, that would include Democrats.
This is the last straw.
Obama is going to lose a lot of supporters if he does not take a strong stand. I already called his office and expressed my outraged and told them I will not help if he does not come out with a statement AGAINST this non-compromise.
Dave @ 14:
sure, easy. here are steny ‘quid pro quo’ hoyer’s top donors for 2008
Top 5 Contributors
Steny H. Hoyer 2007 - 2008
1 JPMorgan Chase & Co $21,500
2 Comcast Corp $19,500
3 MacAndrews & Forbes $14,797
4 Kindred Healthcare $14,600
5 Mantech International $11,000
http://www.opensecrets.org/pol.....=N00001821
Let this be a lesson to everyone who believes that it is worth voting for the “lesser” of two evils come election time.
It’s time to get rid of most of both parties.
theWalrus @ 9:
As the Democratic Presidential candidate your support of the Constitution is critical. A response is needed today to oppose retroactive immunity for Telecoms. Please support the 4th amendment and send a strong message to Congress that you oppose immunity for illegal wiretap.
I, in my elegant, scholarly missive wrote:
As the Democratic Presidential candidate your support of the Constitution is critical. A response is needed today to oppose retroactive immunity for Telecoms. Please support the 4th amendment and send a strong message to Congress that you oppose immunity for illegal wiretap.
Call Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-0100 and speak your outrage. You will be forced into a message line, but make sure to speak your dissatisfaction with this ridiculous mess.
Contact your representatives!
Hoyer is a Chicken-Shit traitor and corrupt Reslug enabler that needs to be thrown out of office.
FunMe @ 23:
i agree but i would like to see more dems support him if he does speak up otherwise the repubs. will continue that “the most liberal senator” theme…..i know that appears to be a sell out but he does have to pick his battles carefully…right now he has plenty of battles
If you’re going to refer to sites that require registration and/or money, like CQ Politics and the WSJ,
it would be good to say so when doing it.
TRAITORS to their country, the Constitution, their Oath of office. ENABLERS, all who will vote for this immunity. Vote them all out come November - Democrats, Republicans or Independents — all who vote for this need to be removed from office. Better yet, let’s just do away with Congress.
If all they want to do is consent, even to blatantly unlawful and unconstitutional legislation, there’s no need for Congress. Just let the Unitary Executive be the dictator it thinks it is anyway.
Preserving the Constitution IS the line in the sand for me.
Mr. Obama, speak out against this travesty!
True that it’s been bought and sold, but the vote has not happened yet. By giving up, we would be as low as those who will “give up” and support it on the floor.
They’re bringing up the vote tomorrow at the same time as the War Funding bill vote. The only way it won’t pass is if a meteor hits the House just before the vote.
This is what fascism is like.
The corporations have the upper hand: they own Congress, and they therefore own what used to be our country.
If you work for one of these corporations…you’re part of the problem.
Once again- our Democratic ‘representatives’ prove they are unwilling to stand up for us.
Vote Nader! Vote Green! Vote Socialist!
Vote anything but Rep/Dem. How many times are we going to let them fool us with the good cop/bad cop routine?
I lost all respect for the Dem’s that cave and cower to the big Reslug companies and vote immunity for known Reslug criminals. If this passes I can’t in all good conscience vote Democratic this fall. They don’t represent me then.
No taxation without representation!
It is time to THROW THE BUMS OUT!
Vote our ALL incumbents, good or bad - we MUST take back our government NOW!
Why is Hoyer selling out the Constitution and the right to get justice in a court of law? Must be something big, right?
The only possiblity I can think of is that they tapped his phone (he’s a target right?) and they got he on tape talking to his 14-year-old boy lover.
Nevertheless, Hoyer you are a traitor.
big lawsuits big stock selloffs….i wonder if it’s that simple it would cripple the telecom industry or would it cripple the bush administration…
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/.....-this-week
Emailing Hoyer is not restricted to his district residents. This form is for all of us.
Use It!!
Damnit…
Please include the reference number of the bill you’re talking about so we can pass it on. Now I gotta go hunting and pecking for it for the next three hours.
The Bill’s Number is HR 3773, and is apparently an amendment to the Protect America Act
Protection of Persons Assisting the Government HR 3773: [THOMAS][GovTrack][WashingtonWatch][OpenCongress][Congress.org]
It’s great to see everyone on top of this. I just donated some $$. Great work!
Legalize @ 22:
Very true. They largely have the same agenda. The Democratic leadership sometimes takes a little longer to maneuver themselves into a place from which they can push that agenda and blame it on someone else.
hell if you weeded out all the crooks in the house and senate thier would only be kucinich left in washington!