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Spineless Steny Stymied on FISA Capitulation

Good on the Progressive Caucus:

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference announcing new reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after progressive lawmakers banded together and said they would fight any legislation that did not include a set of eight principles on wiretapping that preserve the "rule of law."

"What's most significant is that the Progressive Caucus came together and said to the leadership that all 72 of us require that these provisions be included," said Caroline Fredercikson, Legislative Director for the American Civil Liberties Union. "This changes the dynamic significantly."

Rep. Hoyer had planned to roll out the new FISA reform bill at 1:30 PM today. A spokesperson from his office told the Huffington Post that the House Intelligence Committee had decided to postpone completion of the legislation, though it's not clear that the announcement from the Progressive Caucus influenced their decision. Votes in the House were also canceled today. The committee was not available at press time.

Now do the same on any Iraq funding without a date certain to end the Debacle.

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    Great alliteration and good news too. (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by oculus on Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 11:48:40 AM EST


    the polls (1.00 / 0) (#5)
    by diogenes on Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 06:08:35 PM EST
     It takes a strong spine to stand up to the bloggers.   No one gets stroked these days for standing up for the war.  If you want to say that Steny is strong-spined but misguided, then that's different.

    You should have stuck with the (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 12:05:14 PM EST
    party you really belong to, Steny.

    In the short or the long run you're going down either way, but you won't get any sympathy over here.

    I am not sure it is spinelessness ... (none / 0) (#3)
    by chemoelectric on Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 12:11:25 PM EST
    ... as much as unscrupulousness.

    A good FISA bill should address (none / 0) (#4)
    by Ben Masel on Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 01:40:25 PM EST
    not just conventional wiretapping, but also law enforcement and intelligence agency access to the cellphone location data collected by the telcos.

    Authorised to enable you to be located if you dialed in in an emergency, the architecture as built tracks your phone whenever it's powered to receive calls, and the cell companies have been retaining this record.

    The original E-911 legislation failed to address the privacy concerns. Court rulings to date have been mixed, with some allowing for warrantless access for routine law enfiorcement on the theory that you've waived privacy by "sharing" your location history with the telco.

    It's not spineless Dems (none / 0) (#6)
    by tnthorpe on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 12:24:44 AM EST
    but complicit Dems.

    They own the war that they refuse to end despite the clear mandate of the 06 elections.

    Good on the Progressive Caucus and let's hope for more of the same. If the Bush Dogs can hold a party hostage, why can't Progressives drive it forward?