The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the extension of three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act. The bill was ordered reported by a roll call vote of 10-7. One Republican, Mike Lee of Utah, voted for Leahy's bill. The Obama administration and the Attorney General supported Leahy's bill.

Sen. Leahy said the bill approved by the committee contains added civil liberties and privacy protections. He introduced S. 193 on January 26. It is available here and here. Several amendments were made and voted on today. You can see them here (scroll down to bills section.)[More...]

Open Thread.

In my years as a front pager at Daily Kos, a running theme, perhaps THE running theme, was that Dems needed to fight for their values. The Barack Obama phenomenon and the PPUS sidetracked that theme. But perhaps it is making a comeback. Here is E.J. Dionne today:

Consider the contrast between two groups of Democrats, in Wisconsin and in the nation's capital. Washington Democrats, including President Obama, have allowed conservative Republicans to dominate the budget debate so far. As long as the argument is over who will cut more from federal spending, conservatives win. Voters may think the GOP is going too far, but when it comes to dollar amounts, they know Republicans will always cut more.

In Wisconsin, by contrast, 14 Democrats in the state Senate defined the political argument on their own terms - and they are winning it. [. . .] Here's the key to the Wisconsin battle: For the first time in a long time, blue-collar Republicans - once known as Reagan Democrats - have been encouraged to remember what they think is wrong with conservative ideology.

The Deal was a terrible mistake, in part, because President Obama avoided a chance to fight for the middle class, for the ordinary American, and instead signed on to the "no sacrifice for the rich" Norquistian GOP agenda. He had a chance to fight for what Jim McDermott called the Common Good:

Lindsay Lohan has court tomorrow. According to TMZ, Lindsay's lawyer and the DA met with the judge today and no deal was reached. If you haven't been following along, Lindsay has been charged with stealing a necklace from a Beverly Hills store, and violating her seemingly never-ending probation.

At tomorrow's hearing the judge will set a preliminary hearing on the necklace charge. If bound over for trial, TMZ and others report Lindsay's probation may be revoked immediately, causing her to remain in jail pending trial.

On TV tonight: American Idol, Survivor, America's Next Top Model and Justified. The one not to miss: Justified. It's even better this year than last, ratings are up and even the critics are loving it. There's also a new character:

Added to the mix was Mags Bennett (veteran character actress Margo Martindale, getting a fine showcase here), a backwoods big-time pot grower now looking to take over Bo’s market for meth dealing. Mags is as ruthless as her son Dickie (Jeremy Davies – Lost’s Daniel Faraday) is gimpy. Mags has two more sons who are dumber but no less mean than their mama.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Jared Loughner, accused of murder, attempted murder and other crimes in the Arizona shooting case of Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll and others, pleaded not guilty in federal court today.

Over the objections of both the prosecution and defense, the Judge granted media requests for release of the search warrant documents in the case, with a few redactions. He said that because the investigation phase of the case was now over, the public had a right to see them. The defense, correctly in my view, argued among other things that the release of the documents could prejudice Loughner's right to an impartial jury. It asked that the documents not be released, at the earliest, before motions addressing the legality of the searches are determined. [More..]

The 9th Circuit issued an important decision this week in Diouf v. Napolitano (opinion here) concerning prolonged detention of immigrants.

In a unanimous decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a person who has been subjected to prolonged immigration detention is entitled to release unless the government can show that he poses a risk of flight or a danger to the community at a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

The Constitution guarantees every person, whether here lawfully or not, a day in court. The ACLU says: [More...]

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has filed a motion to dismiss his criminal charges, set for trial in April.

His lawyers cite the recent budgetary freeze on payments to court-appointed counsel. They say they haven't been paid in 9 months, and are unable to retain experts to challenge the Government's evidence. The motion is here.

The financial hardship .... has created a vast inequity in this case between the government and the defense. The government continues to have every resource at its disposal. Yet, the defense is stymied in its ability to prepare for trial.

Blagojevich has the right to a fair trial and to present a defense, as well as the right to effective assistance of counsel. (U.S. Const. Amends V, VI). Blagojevich’s aforementioned rights cannot be sustained under the current economic situation.

Blagojevich is asking to be sentenced now on the single count he was convicted of at his first trial, making a false statement to the F.B.I. That charge carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison. [More...]

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed the bill abolishing the death penalty passed by the legislature in January. He also commuted the sentences of the 15 inmates now on death row to life in prison without parole. The law goes into effect July 1.

Illinois is now the 16th state to abolish the death penalty.

David Broder, longtime writer for the Washington Post and other media publications, has passed away.

Our sympathies to his family. May he rest in peace.

Since the economic reality that now is not the time to be dealing with deficits is ignored by every Very Serious Person, from President Obama on down, the next question is how to address the deficit.

Economic reality tells us that it is not the time to reduce government spending as the nation continues to suffer from insufficient aggregate demand, slack that the private sector is simply not capable of picking up at this time. So, if we must address the deficit now, the most efficient (not to mention fair and decent) policy choice is to raise taxes on the rich. President Obama blew this issue when he did The Deal. A terrible mistake. At the federal level, the discussion is about how much the poor and the middle class must "sacrifice," the rich must never do so. And that cake is baked. At the state level, the electorate voted in zanies as governors in many states (Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania . . . New York?) who seem determined to destroy the economies of their states (and to contribute to the destruction of the national economy.) They will likely get their way. In a sense, this will be an additional experiment regarding the basic tenet of Republican governance. But does it matter how it turns out? More . . .

In what is being called the largest insider trading trial in a generation, opening arguments in the trial of Galleon Group's Raj Rajartnam begin today.

Since arresting 53-year-old U.S. citizen Rajaratnam in October 2009 and announcing criminal charges against 26 former traders, executives and lawyers, the U.S. government has pressed ahead with what it calls the biggest probe of insider trading in the $1.9 trillion hedge fund industry. Nineteen people have pleaded guilty in the Galleon case.

There are wiretaps and cooperators galore. There will be a feast of corporate-leaked secrets. It will expose the hedge-fund industry.

Former Goldman Sachs Group director Rajat Gupta, who has not been criminally charged but had civil SEC charges brought against him last week, may play a prominent role. The feds have phone calls in which he allegedly provided Rajaratnam with confidential information from Goldman Sachs. [More...]

Is it too early for a "Let's Go Gators!" chant?

In other news, Barcelona faces Arsenal in a do or die Champions League soccer game at the Camp Nou this afternoon. Arsenal won the first leg in London. Go Barca!

Open Thread.