Blue dog dems help Houe Repubs on FISA - top name:

[rurallib]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/13/134654/941/584/456059

House Republicans engineered a series of procedural votes Wednesday in a bid to derail the Democrats’ prooposed extension, which President Bush said Wednesday he would veto. They argued that the House should simply take up and send to the White House a surveillance overhaul bill (HR 3773) that the Senate passed by 68-29 Tuesday.

Because 21 conservative Blue Dog Democrats have endorsed the Senate-passed bill, Republicans might be able to win approval of the Senate bill through a motion to recommit the extension with instructions to amend it with the text of the Senate bill.
<snip>
Here are those Blue Dogs:

* Rep. Leonard L. Boswell, D-Iowa -- Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]

[CornField]

1. It's time to burn up the phone lines.

The House voted this afternoon on a 21-day extension. Those voting against: Boswell, Latham and King. Those voting for: Braley and Loebsack.

Since the extension failed, members of the House are going to be getting major pressure to pass the Senate version of the FISA reauthorization that does contain retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that were complaisant in the warrantless wiretapping program. They -- all of them -- need to hear your opinion.

No doubt the Congressmen are more clever than I am, but given the late date (the existing FISA is set to expire Feb. 16), I can only see two things happening tomorrow:

1) Nothing is passed and it expires. (Depending on who you speak with, this can be good or bad. Most legal minds I've read have said that existing taps would continue unfettered, future ones would revert to the old FISA laws of tapping for up to 72 hours before obtaining a warrant from the FISA Court.)

2) Passage of the flawed Senate bill that would put a halt to all current and future lawsuits against the large telecom companies.

All of our Congressmen -- especially Leonard Boswell -- need to hear from constituents that retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

[4dsc]

2. I have just two words for Boswell

ED FALLON

[Vet31203]

3. I got a feeling Bos's days in office are numbered

People are really catching onto this "Fallon Fever"

William J Meyers for House 2008

[Hardrada]

4. Amazing he's been pulling of this crap all these years.

We have some retroactive scores to settle with him since he is complicit in the war crimes too as well as kissing the behind of every possible business interest.