Lawrence O'Donnell just announced that the GOP controlled house

[Volaris]

voted down a 9 month extension of the Patriot Act that would have included, among other things, wiretapping language...NOW we will see if the new Speaker is really savvy enough to handle the job he has been given, Tea Party and all.
My guess is, not so much. How does that bullet in your foot feel, John?
The Frankenstein that is the Tea Party has made it to the Village gate...the timbers won't hold for long...pour yourself another drink, Mr. Speaker, it's going to be a long night=)=)=)=)

[Swede Atlanta]

1. Who says...........

Boner boy expects to be able to manage his teaparty colleagues. They are rougues with a specific agenda.

[annabanana]

2. what . .What?

The Patriot Act might go down?

[derby378]

3. As long as those PATRIOT Act extensions are gone for good...

...that's just fine with me. About time we started dismantling the Bush legacy, piece by piece.

[Arkana]

4. I don't think we've seen the last of it, sadly.

Boner will schedule another vote soon. In the meantime, they're going to try and browbeat the freshmen teabaggers who voted to kill it.

Here's hoping those Neanderthal fucks have some testicular fortitude.

[gateley]

12. I think it expires at the end of the month unless it's extended - someone will correct

me if I'm wrong -- but I think that's what I heard.

[Recursion]

5. The roll call (Dems in italics)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll026.xml

[BklynThirtyThree]

6. '11 could be

the year of upheavals. I hope this holds up

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. You gotta love hard core right wing libertarians

they do have their uses.

Oh and boys and girls, thank you. This is actually a core issue that the "far left" and the "far Libertarian right" agree on.

[Volaris]

16. THIS ---is in part, the path to getting a good bit of what progressives

want, WITHOUT the need of those who would adhere to the do-nothing-ism of the DLC....we really should be spending a good deal of time talking to Libertarians, convincing them that they are more Progressive than Rush and Co. tell them they are.
Heres hoping that the Dems. in the House and Senate work toward the same goal, and FINALLY kill this piece of Neo-Con. nastiness....

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. The problem is have you tried?

I have... and it is hard to break though the haze.

But the story that RMS is covering right now... there is the split.

[Volaris]

21. Yeah I know what you mean, it can be a tough nut to crack heh..

One of the inroads that seems to work is economic issues; a lot of the Libertarians I talk to about it are accepting of a lot of Liberal social programs (social security, Public Option, etc.) if they can be assured that they will actually be paid for, and most of them are at least marginally willing to have a small increase in the tax rate to cover the cost, as long as everyone is theoretically paying their "fair share" of the taxes...mostly they seem to want the National Debt paid off; other than that, they really don't care who you sleep with, they know they wouldn't want you in their business when it comes to stuff like that. The quote WE use for it is "Do unto others..." the quote THEY use is "live and let live". It MEANS the same thing, the problem is the language used, and if we can get over that hurdle, I think we have a good shot of burying the kind of greed-based status-quo-ism that isn't limited to the GOP establishment, but has pervaded the DLC establishment as well (although I thought I read something the other day about the DLC was closing its doors, maybe that means were getting somewhere..)
Changing the system will take real populists of BOTH parties working together to defeat a common enemy, and we shouldn't be afraid to open ourselves to the possibility that SOME of the teabaggers are actually on our side, even if they don't know it yet. That lady who "wanted her country back"? that comes from the deep-seated fear that something has changed, that something in America is NOT what it used to be, and she isn't wrong in my opinion. But because she doesn't know WHAT has changed, or WHO is responsible, she can be lied to by the likes of Rush and Beck and Sister Sarah and D**k Armey and won't know any better. If we believe that WE are the ones who REALLY know, then we have not only a civic responsibility but a kind of MORAL OBLIGATION (I know, those are THEIR words lol)to educate and inform as much as we possibly can, its the only way we get what we want...jsut my 2 cents, thoughts are welcome, as always..
Peace =)

[Geostudent]

8. I just looked up the facts...

Doesn't look good. The repubs tried to pass it by suspending the rules, which requires 2/3rds (290). They got 270ish. They can have it go through committee etc and get it passed normally (218) without a problem sadly.

[Recursion]

11. Not clear

The TP freshmen are still an unknown factor, and parts of the Teahadists are actively campaigning against this law. Common causes abound if we can overcome our mutual disgust.

[slipslidingaway]

9. "The White House actually supports a three-year extension ...

but said today it would accept the House Republican proposal to extend surveillance authorities until this December."

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/142871-gop-defections-lead-to-house-failure-to-extend-patriot-act-surveillance?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d51e311b46a1812,0

210 Republicans and 67 Democrats voted with the WH.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll026.xml

[enough]

10. Strange world in which the democratic administration wants MORE Patriot Act,

and the new brand of R's want less.

[Recursion]

13. The Executive has never acquiesced to a reduction of its powers

and never will.

That was the danger of the act. That was why I phoned every GOP lobbyist I knew and asked them how they would feel when President Hillary Clinton (which seemed the given at that time) had those powers.

[slipslidingaway]

18. It sure is! Need to look more at the issue instead of the letter behind the name. n/t

[krobar659]

14. Patriot Act voted down

Not only does this spell the end of the Patriot Act, it also shows just how much that the GOP is falling apart, becoming divided, etc. This is great!!! A weaker, divided GOP is great for the United States of America.

[gateley]

15. I don't understand why my "good guy" Congressman, Inslee, voted against the

Dems on this -- I'll have to call his office tomorrow. Wonder if I'll get a straight answer.

[spanone]

17. House rejects measure that would extend key Patriot Act provisions through December

A measure to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act counterterrorism surveillance law through December failed the House Tuesday night, with more than two-dozen Republicans bucking their party to oppose the measure.

The House measure, which was sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and required a two-thirds majority for passage, failed on a 277-to-148 vote. Twenty-six Republicans voted with 122 Democrats to oppose the measure, while 67 Democrats voted with 210 Republicans to back it. Ten members did not vote.

The measure would have extended three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are set to expire on Monday, Feb. 28, unless Congress moves to reauthorize them. One of the provisions authorizes the FBI to continue using roving wiretaps on surveillance targets; the second allows the government to access "any tangible items," such as library records, in the course of surveillance; and the third is a "lone wolf" provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act that allows for the surveillance of targets who are not connected to an identified terrorist group.

The vote came as several tea party-aligned members of the new freshman class had been expressing doubts about the measure.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/ahead-of-patriot-act-vote-some.html

[DainBramaged]

19. And I agree that those three provisions need to go

Want to slim down guberment, get rid of Homerlands Insecurity...