Patriot Act extension shelved

[CaptAhab]

Patriot Act extension shelved

Privacy concerns delay legislation

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | November 19, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Capping another tough week for President Bush and top Republicans in Congress, a bipartisan backlash yesterday forced congressional leaders to shelve a bill to extend provisions of the USA Patriot Act that expire at the end of the year.

Sidetracking the White House's push to preserve the expanded police powers authorized after the 2001 terrorist attacks, a rare coalition of liberal Democrats and conservative Republican lawmakers are demanding that the bill's more controversial provisions -- set to run out at the end of December -- should include more civil-liberties safeguards.

They want federal authorities to notify targets of secret, ''sneak-and-peek" searches within seven days of executing the warrant; get a judge's approval before searching medical, financial, and library records; and allow the subjects of an investigation to challenge court gag orders issued against them.

...

But Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said yesterday afternoon that the Senate's impasse with House negotiators, who favor the administration's version of the bill, could not be resolved by week's end. That means Congress will have to deal with the Patriot Act in December and rush to beat the expiration date.

...

[salin]

1. may it sunset in peace.

[Conservativesux]

26. Amen to that !

[bluestateguy]

2. But a Democratic president could have so much fun with the Patriot Act

Think of all the neo-con think tanks we could have shut down, nice and legal, under the provisions of the Patriot Act. Ann Coulter could also be carted off to jail under the Patriot Act too.

[dkofos]

7. Indeed

I would like to see the fur fly using these laws to go after the neocons

[meow2u3]

15. That's the whole point

Repunks don't want the Dems to be able to throw it back in their faces. That's how come they want the Patriot Act to sunset: it's a CYA tactic.

[alarcojon]

19. Yes, they could ship off the whole lot of them

O'Shithead would have to be at the top of the list after his recent idiocies about San Francisco. Then there's Pat Robertson and his Hugo Chavez comments. And, of course, Bush and Cheney deserve an indefinite detention with no notification of whereabouts, no access to family or attorneys, and no knowledge of the charges brought against them.

[Demeter]

23. We Don't Need A Patriot Act For That--Just RICO And Fitz

Patriot Act only serves a police state, not our America.

[rodeodance]

3. it is only shelved for now. Sign any petition, send letters, make calls

etc. Lets be dilagant.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Shelved up there with such fine works

as the Alien and Sedition Act,
executive order 106
and
general order 11

I suppose.

Oh yeah, and the final report on the Philadelphia experiment too.

[chat_noir]

5. threatened filibuster

But chief Senate negotiator Arlen Specter stalled the steamroller when he signaled his displeasure with the committee report. He joined the group of six defiant senators threatening a filibuster at a Friday morning press conference.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2002632710_patrioted19.html

Inspired by an episode of "West Wing" in which a senator read a Dickens novel, I suggest that those Democrats who filibuster read from books that are highly critical of Bush, Cheney, 9/11 investigation, etc., etc.

What books would you recommend? (Maybe this topic warrants it's own thread.)

"Crossing the Rubicon"?

"The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception"?

"The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America"?

[MissWaverly]

20. Worse than Watergate & Against All Enemies &

the Betrayl of America (Bush v Gore)

[rodeodance]

6. kick

[natrat]

8. nice seeing government work on behalf of people not against

[williesgirl]

9. REPEAL THE ENTIRE LAW and start over in a calm atmosphere vs 9/11

reaction.

[VegasWolf]

11. Yes! and force the damn Senators to read the damn thing before singing it!

[jazzjunkysue]

12. While standing on a box with wires attached to their privates, in the sun.

[Dover]

13. They've all had plenty of time to read it now, and are all 'singing' in

perfect harmony, it seems. Only a handful of provisions are in question. The rest is a done deal. No excuses this time for the Dems.

[VegasWolf]

18. Oops! I need a semantic checker in addition to my spell checker!

I still don't believe that any of them have read it yet. I think that most of them have heard only about the most egregious points.

[drduffy]

10. Help. Can somebody tell me how long it was after 911

that the neocons had the Patriot Act ready for action in congress? Given that some have said it is a very complex act and that it was ready in such a short time is there some suspicion that it was actually mostly prepared - before - 911??

If any can help clarify this, thanks in advance.

[CaptAhab]

14. October 26, 2001

The Patriot Act was signed into law on October 26, 2001. I remember that date clearly, as this was when I first became politically aware. October 26, a day of infamy. The reason why they had it "written" so quickly was because the bulk of it was proposed but never passed as a response to the 1993 attack on the WTC. I forget the name of DOJ official responsible for it, but it was one of the career assistant attorneys there.

[librechik]

21. almost like they had it all prepared in advance and were waiting for

an opportunity to ram it through

:tinfoilhat:

[lostnfound]

24. proposed but never passed after 1993? I seriously doubt it.

Where on earth did you read that?

I seriously think it was in the works for a year before 9-11. But I don't believe it had anything to do with what happened in 1993.

[MasonJar]

16. It needs a new moniker; the title , Patriot Act, is a euphemism for

anti-liberty. Dem and liberals need to start calling like we see it....anti-American.

[proud patriot]

17. Thank Goodness

:-)

[corkhead]

22. Don't know about you, but I think this is HUGH!!

now if only we can get rid of Diebold, maybe we'll save our Democracy afterall.

[kansasblue]

25. That is sooooo sweet. The enabling act on hold.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act