Uh, we think not… Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy We have been reporting on this for more than four years now all the way back to the launch of this independent news site. But I guess it takes a New York Times story and an MSNBC story to…
Tag Archive for Domestic Surveillance
Demand Speaker Pelosi Stop Telecom Immunity … Again!
Rep. Steny Hoyer is leading a “compromise” on the FISA reauthorization bill that would ultimately let the Bush administration and their friends at AT&T and Verizon off the hook for illegally spying on innocent Americans. Last night, this so-called compromise was voted out of committee and as early as this morning the bill may be…
As The Pendulum Swings
Under the Microscope by Glynn Wilson TUSCALOOSA, Ala., June 5 – Global warming gave us a break this spring in Alabamaland with plenty of rain and way cooler temps than last year. But the global pendulum is now swinging hard toward summer, and it’s hot as hades in T-Town. On the national political front, in…
House Passes Surveillance Bill With No Telecom Immunity
The United States House of Representatives, led by the Democratic majority, defied President George W. Bush on Friday and passed a surveillance bill that permits civil lawsuits against the telecom giants to go forward. The 213-197 vote was short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a threatened veto by the president, however, so the…
House Debates Surveillance in Rare Secret Session
The United States House of Representatives went into closed session Thursday night to debate a version of the latest a surveillance bill without retroactive immunity for the telecom giants. The debate will continue in open session on Friday. House Closes Doors for Secret Session on Spy Bill A Brief History of the “Secret Session” in…
Surveillance Bill Negotiations Behind Closed Doors
No Wonder They’ve Been Trying To Shut Us Down… We should have known with all the Internet connectivity problems and spam and bandwidth filtering that the negotiations over telecom immunity and the surveillance bill are underway behind closed doors in Washington between the United States House of Representatives, the White House, the telecommunications companies and…
The Post '60 Minutes' White House Hangover
King wannabe George W. Bush went live on cable news this morning to take one more swipe at pushing retroactive immunity for the telecom giants, oddly also pushing his “faith-based initiative” to the governors visiting the White House. He looked like he was back on the blow and Jim Beam last night while watching the…
Alabama Troopers Revving up Traffic Blitzkrieg
Lock Yourselves In, Folks The Newhouse press is putting out the press releases for the Alabama Department of Public Safety again, this time reporting that this non-holiday weekend will be another “Take Back the Highways” weekend. Chris Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, tells the corporate, chain press motorists can expect more…
Mad King George Didn’t Get His Way
For once, the Congress of the United States has taken a stand against king wannabe George W. Bush. Only this time, it was the House, not the Senate, that did the right thing. Members of the House smartly departed Washington on a 12-day recess today – without passing a new surveillance law giving the telephone…
Surveillance Bill Extension Fails in the House
Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats stopped an effort by the United States House of Representative’s Democratic leadership Wednesday to extend the surveillance bill for 21 days. So unless the House comes up with a compromise in the next day and a half, it will expire on Friday. According to the TPMMucraker, Congressional Quarterly and…
Blue Dog Democrats Support Bush, Telecom Spying
A group of Blue Dog Democrats in the United States House of Representatives are now helping House Republicans by endorsing the Senate-passed bill that grants retroactive immunity to the telecom giants for their participation in the Bush administration’s illegal spying on millions of innocent American citizens. Congressional Quarterly and the Daily Kos are now reporting…
King George Browbeats the House on Teleco Immunity
Wannabe king George woke up Wednesday morning and decided he was no lame duck president after all, empowered by the cowardly vote yesterday in the United States Senate granting his administration unlimited powers to spy on innocent American citizens and let the telephone companies off the hook for their illegal scheme. So he started out…
Feingold Says His Hope Is With The House
Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis., had some hard words for his colleagues after today’s vote. “The Senate passage of this FISA bill, while not surprising, is extremely disappointing. The Senate missed a golden opportunity to pass a bill that would give our intelligence officials the tools they need to go after suspected terrorists while also safeguarding…
Senate Passes Bush’s Spying Bill, With Telecom Immunity
Senator Majority Harry Reid, D-Nevada, spoke out against the FISA bill with telecom immunity, but it was no use. The vote passed 68-29. According to Daily Kos, this is the list of those who did not support the bill and did support the rule of law, although two of them were absent from the vote.…
Senator Patrick Leahy Speaks, More From Dodd
Senator Patrick Leahy, chair of the Judiciary Committee, spoke for 20 minutes against the FISA bill with the telecom immunity provision that will come up later today after more speeches. Here’s the link to his statement. This blurb was also posted on his Website. Senator Leahy criticized the Senate and the Bush Administration for failing…
Senator Dodd Makes Impassioned Speech for ‘Rule of Law’
Senator Chris Dodd, the former Democratic presidential candidate from Connecticut, made an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon laying out the case for how the law was broken by the Bush administration and the telecommunications companies when they spied on the phone calls, e-mails and Web traffic of innocent American citizens in the…
Washington Post Finally Covers Spying, Telecom Issue
What do you know, the Washington Post has finally decided to cover the historic debate in the United States Senate on Bush’s surveillance bill and telecom immunity, just in time to see an attempt go down in flames by some Democrats in the Senate to protect our rights. I guess this is good news for…
Senate Votes on FISA Amendments
There is no sign of Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on the United States Senate floor this morning, and it looks like her presence would have been useful. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is in attendance, along with Republican presidential front-runner John McCain. The Senate started out by voting on a number of amendments to the…
Senate Debates Spying Bill, Telecom Immunity Tuesday
A Filibuster Looms Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chair of the Judiciary Committee, announced Monday he will join with Senators Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold and others in opposing the version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that grants retroactive immunity to the telecom giants favored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, chair of the…
Surveillance Law Extension Filed Friday
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., apparently trying to “avoid another edition of the (Bush) administration’s surveillance squeeze play,” according to the TPMMuckraker news Website, has filed another bill to extend the Bush administration’s ability to spy on Americans for another 15 days. They quote Congressional Quarterly, which is not free online, saying: To guard…
