FISA Situation Brightens Just A Little

Last week the House of Representatives brought a tidal wave of bad news by voting for the FISA legislation that not only gives the President unprecedented powers, but gives Bush a free pass by letting the telecommunication companies that aided and abetted his illegal spying on Americans off the hook. Plenty of Democrats voted against it, but enough voted with the Republican caucus to pass it, including many that got extra payoffs from telecom lobbying efforts. Now it heads to the Senate, and this is where we have to stand our ground and beat this bill back to the boardrooms of AT&T, Verizon and the conniving heads in the White House. The good news, the bill is most likely not going to be put to the test this month.

From RawStory:

The schedule for a FISA vote “is up in the air,” a source close to the majority leader tells Raw Story, and no decisions had been finalized Wednesday afternoon.

Senators debated the FISA bill throughout the day Wednesday, although negotiators had not brokered an agreement on how to proceed with votes on amendments. On the Senate floor, Feingold excoriated the compromise for not holding telecommunications companies accountable for their participation in the warrantless wiretapping program, despite the token court review advocates for the bill are touting as a compromise.

“No one should be fooled about the effect of this bill. Under its terms, the companies that allegedly participated in the illegal wiretapping program will walk away from these lawsuits with immunity. There is simply no question about it, and anyone who says that this bill preserves a meaningful role for the courts to play in deciding these cases is wrong,” Feingold said.

Feingold also brought up the fact that the bill is an abomination without retroactive immunity. Russ points out that the bill gives an incredible amount of power to the Presidency, something few Senators or any public official is willing to do. Senator Feingold speaks truth to power on this very important Constitutional issue and he should be commended for his actions. Keep up the fight Senator, we need all we can get to kill this bill in 2008.