House Renews USA Patriot Act; Bush To Sign

[Bob Hubbard]

House Renews USA Patriot Act; Bush To Sign

Author: Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Source: Tampa Bay Online

Title: HOUSE RENEWS USA PATRIOT ACT; BUSH TO SIGN

Law enforcement officials get to keep their antiterror tools, but with some new curbs, under the USA Patriot Act renewal passed by the House in a cliffhanger vote.

The 280-138 vote Tuesday evening passed by just two votes more than needed under House rules requiring a two-thirds majority for legislation handled on an expedited basis.

The vote ended a monthslong battle over how to balance privacy rights against the need to defeat potential terrorists - a political struggle in which President Bush was forced to accept new restraints on law enforcement investigations.
[Wrens Nest]
[Full Story]

 

[beau_safken]

Great...looks like you will need to watch your mouth again Bob. No bad talking the president or USA for me anymore. I don't need a collar because of my constitutional right to question those in power...do I?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

What I find interesting is how many of our so-called "leaders" voted for it, while at the same time declaring it flawed.

As one commenter put it: "Arlen Specter urged his colleagues to pass it even as he promised to introduce a new measure and hold hearings on how to fix it. Terrorism aside, the bill also includes new legislation that has almost nothing to do with terrorism, like one measure, which would make it harder for illicit labs to obtain ingredients for methamphetamine by requiring pharmacies to sell nonprescription cold medicines only from behind the counter. I know that people like Arlen Specter promise further hearings - but why pass what you know is flawed?"

From the MSNBC article:
Some lawmakers who voted for the package acknowledged deep reservations about the power it would grant to any president.

“Our support for the Patriot Act does not mean a blank check for the president,” said Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who voted to pass the bill package. “What we tried to do on a bipartisan basis is have a better bill. It has been improved.”

Not enough even for the bill’s chief sponsor in the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. After prolonged negotiations produced a House-Senate compromise, Specter urged his colleagues to pass it even as he promised to introduce a new measure and hold hearings on how to fix it.


So...the statement is "We know it's broke, we know it goes beyond what we intended, we know that it gives the big guy too much power, but, we did the best we could without actually doing any work on it. We'll try and get it right next time, really. Unless the Emperor decides to disband us and build a giant space borne planet destroyer, in which case we're toast."

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Great...looks like you will need to watch your mouth again Bob. No bad talking the president or USA for me anymore. I don't need a collar because of my constitutional right to question those in power...do I?

Considering that I'm probably the most aware member of this site to exactly how much government monitoring might be going on here, I'm sure my file's already well developed. Regardless, I won't stop commenting, nor shut up out of fear.
The Constitution grants me the right to comment and criticize, my family has fought, bleed and died for that right, and it is my right and responsibility to use it, despite the attempts of those currently in power restrict or remove.

"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government." -- Thomas Paine
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
Thomas Jefferson
"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."
Ronald Reagan

We live in an age where those "Leaders" of ours, who have sworn to "Protect and Defend" the constitution of the United States, are publicly complaining about how it handcuffs them, how they will do what they feel like regardless of what the law actually says. I think Jefferson's fears were well founded, and the age he and many other founding fathers feared has arrived.