Telecoms Write Legislation To Give Themselves Immunity

The FISA debate, if not for anything else shows why Washington is broken and how we need to fix the system. At&T, Verizon and the other telecoms graciously took the time to write their own legislation for Congress so that they can get off the hook for their unconstitutional crimes when they helped George Bush spy on Americans. The problem isn't that Congress laughed in their faces, its that they are trying to 'work things out'.

From Politico:

Many Democrats want the companies held accountable for participating in the program, which was initiated in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The White House, however, has insisted that the participation of the telecoms is crucial to monitoring conversations between potential terrorists. President Bush has vowed to veto any bill that does not contain immunity.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday a FISA deal is “still in flux” but he described the latest developments as “promising” and said he hoped to have a solution soon.

House officials declined to discuss the specifics of the proposed immunity language by the telecoms.

Although it remains to be seen if congressional Democrats will accept the telecom companies' proposal, the communication between the two sides signifies that progress is being made.

If many Democrats want these companies to be held accountable, it is only because either they want the rule of law to be upheld or their constituents are screaming in their faces (or in the direction of their offices) to do something for them instead of corporations for a change. The only progress that should have been made is to declare the telecoms immunity legislation dead on arrival. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that George Bush will veto what the people want, nor does it take a genius to know that we can wait until we have the 44th President in office.

If for some reason "progress" is made, Democrats are going to realize they will pay for their actions by facing primary challenges in the near or somewhat near future. We must uphold the law, even if it pisses politicians big campaign donors off. I for one, really do not care for it.

Follow The Telco Money....To Sen. Rockefeller

Sometimes Most of the time politics is a sickening business. I had dinner with a friend of mine last night and we were talking about how money corrupts in politics, especially since he is a first cousin of one of the Democrats that refuses to speak out against retroactive immunity for the telecommunication companies that violated that law along with the Bush Administration. He knows first hand how it works and the privileges that are doled out to Senators and their families for serving corporations over their constituents. My friend's name isn't Rockefeller, but that family and specifically that Senator exemplifies the problem of money and government.

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 — Executives at the two biggest phone companies contributed more than $42,000 in political donations to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV this year while seeking his support for legal immunity for businesses participating in National Security Agency eavesdropping.

The surge in contributions came from a Who’s Who of executives at the companies, AT&T and Verizon, starting with the chief executives and including at least 50 executives and lawyers at the two utilities, according to campaign finance reports.

The money came primarily from a fund-raiser that Verizon held for Mr. Rockefeller in March in New York and another that AT&T sponsored for him in May in San Antonio.

Mr. Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, emerged last week as the most important supporter of immunity in devising a compromise plan with Senate Republicans and the Bush administration.

It isn't particularly surprising of course that Rockefeller or his many colleagues can be sucked into the mess that is Washington. Nevertheless this is the type of politics that we must speak out against, shine light upon and effect change. One person can't do it, but if enough people get fed up, we can do away with people like Mr. Rockefeller.