"If House Democrats had stuck together in opposition to moves by the Bush administration to reauthorize the worst elements of the Patriot Act, the legislation would have been defeated and a major victory would have been won for civil liberties. . .
Had the 43 Democrats who voted with the White House and the Republican leadership instead sided with House Democrats and Republicans who were worried about the threat to civil liberties posed by the Patriot Act, the opposition total would have risen to 214 while support for the measure would have fallen to 214.
On a tie vote, the legislation would not have advanced. . .
The fight will now play out in the Senate, where Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold -- who cast the sole Senate vote against the original version of the Patriot Act -- is a leading foe of blanket reauthorization.
While he is still hopeful about prospects that the Senate can pass a better bill and then negotiate changes in the House legislation, Feingold was disappointed by the failure of the House to address the fundamental civil liberties concerns that have been raised by the Bush administration's approach."
Looks like I’m going to have to run out and buy a new supply of thank you cards. I ran out after thanking Senate Dems for the gift of extremist judges, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor.
My own democratic Rep. Jim Cooper is one of the 43 Dems who needs to be thanked for helping the ultra-right Republican Party in their scheme to take over all three branches of the federal government. I could email him here, but a card says so much more.
To see if your Democratic Rep. needs a 'gee, thanks for voting Republican" card, check out the roll call here.
Speaking of Jim Cooper, what the heck do you think he means by this?:
"There are two things you don't mess with: my wife and my district, not necessarily in that order."
Tags: Democrats
