Reid comes through again

[meegbear]

Once again, Majority Leader Harry Reid demonstrates why he deserved to be the first recipient of the prestigious Hero of the Bush Revolution medal.

He proves his worthiness today when the FISA bill comes up for a vote in the Senate. Our Leader and Deputy Leader really like the bill that came out of the Intelligence Committee, because it gives them the ability to spy on people who might be disloyal to the party without any oversight.They don't like the Judiciary Committee bill, because it requires a justification to spy.

Hero Reid said he will allow votes on both bills, and offered helpful advice to the Republicans, telling them they should consider tabling the Judiciary Committee Bill in order to kill it.

He is also fiddling with the 60 vote super majority policy he's used so effectively to help the Republican's avoid undergoing the embarrassment of actually being forced to filibuster against things like troop withdrawals and Iraq funding. It requires a bill to have at least 60 votes lined up before it comes to a vote. The 60 votes make the vote filibuster-proof.

He's doing away with the 60 vote policy for the initial votes. A simple majority will be all it takes to kill the Judiciary Bill and move the Intelligence Committee Bill forward. It's a smart move. It's in keeping with his policy of preventing the Republicans from facing the possibility of having to filibuster. Because the Republicans want the Intelligence Committee Bill to pass, it will be the Democrats who will be forced to filibuster, instead. It should provide a bunch of great "Like all Democrats, Sen. XXX is soft on terrorism" quotes in the upcoming election.

Hero Reid will then reinstate the 60 vote policy for the bill amendment process. This is good because one of the amendments will strip the retroactive immunity for telecoms provision from the bill. A simple majority won't be enough to do it. It will require a super majority.

It needs to stay in the bill because if it is stripped, companies like AT&T could be sued for spying on us. You see, back when Our Leader instituted his wiretapping program, agents of the State Security Apparatus approached the telecoms and asked them to install the wiretapping equipment. Companies like Sprint and Qwest said 'no, that's unconstitutional.' Other companies like AT&T said "Hey, this is a good opportunity to get more contracts from Our Leader's government, fuck the constitution, let's do it!" and installed the equipment as quickly as possible. Now they are being sued.

If the retroactive immunity amendment passes, companies like AT&T will be less likely to violate the constitution. We can't have that. It;d be like giving the terrorists a green light to begin raping our grandpas. Thank God we have Hero Reid there to stop it.

<snip>

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/

[halobeam]

1. I sat down with my hot cup of coffee

and was ready to read something to lift my spirits, start my day off right. Even though Reid has done some wonderful things, and although I still carry my special brand of "hope" somewhere ways deep inside, I have to admit I had a little voice who whispered, "oh how I wish he'd do good things more often". I must admit I didn't sense your sarcasm right off the bat, because you wrote this so well, but the context was just blowing me away. The element of surprise does not exist, from reading this news. My sense of betrayal and my building resentment overshadows the fresh aroma of the coffee, I gulped down too fast to taste.

[annabanana]

2. He makes Democrats actually filibuster.... Republicans can

"threaten" to filibuster and everyone folds up their tents and go home.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/23/reid/index.html

It astounds and infuriates me.

528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: [phone] / Fax: [phone]
Senate Democratic Communications Center 202-224-2939
email:
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm

[fasttense]

3. The man really needs to be replaced.

He thinks the American public voted in the opposition party so the congress could continue to go along with the bushes. He thinks it's more important to rush through immunity to Pinochet like law breakers cause that's what the voters want. The man is a waste of our time and he needs to be removed NOW.

[annabanana]

4. From "Comments" at Crooks & Liars, (ASTOUNDING)

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/23/harry-reid-democratic-leader/

Mark #39
I JUST got off the phone with Senator Reid’s DC office. Here is the HONEST TO GOD answer I got when I asked WHY Senator Reid would force Democrats into the well of the Senate to filibuster when he will simply allow the Republicans to phone it in.

On FISA:
“Because Senator Reid thinks it’s important to show the nation how important this issue is. He wants people to see Democrats filibustering it”

His little minion also told me the Senator supported the NO retroactive immunity. I asked him then why Senator Reid didn’t JUST bring that bill to the Senate floor, I said HE CAN DO THAT CAN’T HE?

My reply:
“Because Senator Reid thinks it’s important to show the nation how important this issue is. He wants people to see Democrats filibustering it”

What an idiot

[meegbear]

5. Oh good God!

Looks like 2008 is gonna be another repug controlled congress. Harry, just stay home; you'll accomplish the same things if you're there or not.

[thunder rising]

6. The monument over your grave had best be a urinal

A coward dies a thousand deaths... a soldier dies but once.

It's one thing to be a coward and another to be a traitor.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. When did Reid change his party affiliation? I must have missed that one.

[robinlynne]

9. Read rateyes OP from today. major telecom money is going to Reid. They bought him.

He sold our democracy for telecom dollars.

[meegbear]

10. Fuckin' lovely.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. So in the end, everyone who claimed that he was a fighter for democracy,

was wrong.

[robinlynne]

14. He is a fighter for Bushco right now. no two ways about it.

There is no Democracy in telecom immunity.

[autorank]

8. He's pulled a Pelosi! I'm shocked, simply shocked. How on earth, OMG!

This shit happens all the time, they just can't hide this one.

They want power over the minions, i.e., the politically involved citizens. They're getting more mail,
better arguments, and angrier citizens than ever before. Why? A combination of the "leaders" of
both parties being totally full of crap and the alert citizens using the internet to cut through
leader nonsense in record time.

They just want to rule, not listen. There's no accountability, no concern for a crashing economy.

You just know that what ever "stimulus" package they put together will do a great deal for the
White House, Congress and their patrons but very little for us.

I won't 'mention names, but one candidate for the Democratic nomination, proposed a mortgage freeze
that's VOLUNTARY. Damn, that's a bold move - what's good for business is good
for those on the take, all legal of course in the form of "contributions."

K*R

[dysfunctional press]

12. no laws of ex-post facto. isn't that in the constitution?

how can they legally give retro-active immunity?

[DCKit]

13. If there were any Constitutional scholars - hobbyists, even - in either house...

not lacking a spine or a corporate hand up their ass, they'd have been able to shame the maladministration out of business-as-usual four or five years ago.

We need to repopulate both houses with a new crop of independent thinkers.