U.S. House clears $427.6 billion for Pentagon, wars

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-06-21T021351Z_01_N20182060_RTRIDST_0_ARMS-CONGRESS.XML

WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a $427.6 billion Pentagon funding bill on Tuesday after rejecting a bid by Democrats to force the Bush administration to get court orders for its domestic surveillance program.

The House voted 407-19 for the defense bill, which includes another $50 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Senate has not taken up its version of the bill.

Voting 219-207 largely along party lines, the House defeated an amendment to make the National Security Agency obtain warrants before listening to the international phone calls and reading the e-mails of U.S. citizens.

The Bush administration has defended its domestic spying program conducted without obtaining warrants as essential to pursuing terrorism suspects. But Democrats and some Republicans say it tramples on U.S. citizens' privacy rights.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said his amendment would make the administration comply with the Foreign Electronic Surveillance Act, which governs such programs and requires warrants.

...more...

[carolinalady]

1. Great just f*ing great-

"Voting 219-207 largely along party lines, the House defeated an amendment to make the National Security Agency obtain warrants before listening to the international phone calls and reading the e-mails of U.S. citizens."

Hope they enjoy my national PTA newsletter I get weekly.



:sarcasm:

[Sadie5]

2. This is how the GOP operates

and they don't really care who likes it or not. It's getting to be that we are now being slapped in the face daily.

[Erika]

4. They take our money without representation

and expect their sheeple to join them in rubber stamping the W. They do.

[Erika]

3. So the GOP will cut which programs to the needy, and Vets

They can only divide our tax money into so many slices.

[acmavm]

6. 407 - 19 doesn't exactly sound like it was just the republicans who

voted for this massive give-away of the public's much needed money. Sounds like there were only 19 decent, responsible representatives of the American public voting. Now I seriously doubt that they were repubs. But there definitely was no representation from the democrats as a party if that was the vote tally.

[rodeodance]

8. its a whole lot of $$ going down black holes.

[saigon68]

5. UNLEASH --- THE DOGS OF WAR

I'm sure a couple million hungry, homeless people are cheering this morning, as they wake up to empty bellies.

[rodeodance]

7. drats--the headline should be about the amendment--a story in itself!