Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill
By PAMELA HESSWASHINGTON (AP) — Bowing to President Bush’s demands, the Senate sent the White House a bill Wednesday overhauling bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shielding telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.
Apparently 28% of Americans are in Congress. Thanks for kickin’ ass, guys. This one’s for you:
On to the courts.
July 9, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Our New Lord and Savior, B. Obama, voted for that ungainly piece of shit, too (McCain probably would have, but he was too busy chasing some damned kids off his lawn to make it to the vote).
On the down-side, America is really taking it in the pooper from our elected officials; on the up-side, it looks like no matter who wins there is going to be fertile ground for bitter political comedy for years to come.
July 10, 2008 at 7:15 am
[...] Scott Lemieux poses the musical question: ‘Are You Tough Enough?’ and responds: No. (…."Step 2! There’s so much we can do! To capitulate to Bush and expand arbitrary [...]
July 10, 2008 at 7:53 am
Congress serenades the President.
July 10, 2008 at 8:14 am
:(
July 10, 2008 at 11:54 am
So if we vote in Rethuglicans, they act like Rethuglicans, and if we vote in Democrats, they act like Rethuglicans.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but I thought the point of anything other than a one-party system was to provide a genuine choice to the electorate. Unless, of course, the elected perceive themselves as so far above the electorate by now that they no longer care to hide their contempt. In which case, the Netherlands is looking increasingly good…
July 10, 2008 at 12:27 pm
They are simply keeping their powder dry. Why do you people not understand the constant need for dry powder?
July 10, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Did somebody say dry powder?
July 10, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Would that some of that dry powder could be used, for say, preventing chapped asses over issues like failing to protect and uphold Amendment IV …
July 10, 2008 at 3:08 pm
On the other hand, yesterday the Senate also passed a bill blocking another Bush initaitive, deep cuts in Medicare payments to dcotrs. Barely defeated a Republican filibuster — evidently it was touch and go down to the roll call.
I realzie that among left bloggers, Medicare is about a 100th as important and 1000th as exciting as FISA, but before we conclude that D=R, we might want to at least contemplate the possibility that health care for old folks matters at least a little…
July 10, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Er, doctors. And link.
July 10, 2008 at 5:48 pm
The new Democrats in the Senate are in the vein of the “gang of twelve”, There was a great book from the late 80s called “The Neoliberals”, and this is what we have in charge now. We have a few New Deal Democrats like Sherrod Brown, but most are pro-business, (telecom, banking, insurance), union edge, or union neutral, pro-environment, “tough” on crime, (more prisons+ineffective showy drug laws), “tough” on defense, (more contracts and more willing to drop missiles on brown people),pro-tech, and now in favor of securing the border and creating a corporate run indentured servant/serf program. So we have a Democratic Congress made up of maybe three factions, and the Neoliberals and Blue Dogs are the dominant force in collaboration with many of the remaining Republican Senators. Come November we may have 55 Democrats in the Senate, and maybe 10-20 of them will be “progressives.” Same deal in the House.
Tsongas and Clinton led on the budget, willing to stick it to the poor with cuts in services. Clinton, Gore, Gary Hart, these were the candidates who strung together a poll tested set of issue positions. Obama isn’t a Neoliberal, but the Neolibs are controlling the show. So Obama sees the score is going to be run up and the bill is going to pass, so McCain doesn’t vote, because he doesn’t want to be out flanked by Bob Barr amongst the Constitutionalists wing of the GOP or piss off the security blanket voter, who is a 40-50 year-old blue collar Democrat named Barbara, she’s a waitress, and she’s scared of every thing, including Barack.
Obama could play to his base on this vote, but where the fuck are you gonna go? I’m not staying home or voting for McCain.
So what they call the “middle” is everything that polls over 60%, and that’s the party in power. Raise money and read polls, that’s what they do.
Obama could have taken the opportunity to take his knowledge as a constitutional Law Prof, and teach. Right now people are listening. This also highlights how difficult is is to run for President from the Senate. The agenda is out of your control, some votes are designed to make certain factions feel pressured and eventually splintered. We need a President with enough built up political capitol that he can reframe the relationships between the six to eight factions in play. Get as much money and conflictual interests out of the bill writing process. Shitty bills become shitty laws because their written by lobbyists elected by no one. Unless Obama handles that first, he will go no where with his agenda. The corporations will stuff it all down his throat if Obama and the American people reform the process of election and the manufacture of legislation. Otherwise, the Congress, even one with a significant with a Democratic majority, will gum up the wheels, because it will still be the Neoliberals dominating with their Wall Street Republican friends, and they take their orders from Citibank, Goldman-Sachs, and not you. Look at the roll call for this vote, and then look at the Senators who voted for this bill and who they took money from at opensecrets, or one of the other websites. The connections are clear. The Telecom companies paid for this law. Any country where you can buy justice, especially at that level for that deed, isn’t a democracy. We have a Representative Plutocracy, and the members are representing their top ten donors, not their geographic constituents. This is the only issue, we can’t fix anything else, until we fix this. Any Obama healthcare bill without reforming the system first, will be a bill that will be designed to fail, the same goes for Global Warming, Iraq, etc. I don’t want a one term Obama administration because the wealthy factions in Congress won’t let him deliver on what the people want by shooting out poorly crafted law. The GOP wants to destroy government, they do it all the time, not only in obstructing votes, but also planting language and ineffective systems so they can say, “see I told you so, government can’t help you.
July 10, 2008 at 5:59 pm
McCain is old, and he doesn’t need Medicare. It’s political strategery, no worries. WHere’s my purple drank?
Speaking of dry powder and the Netherlands, I’ve heard they’ve discovered some “white stuff” on Mars. The Great Old One can’t hurt me on Mars…
July 11, 2008 at 12:11 am
lemuel – well, sure. And I’m sure the AARP (or whoever) is throwing a party over it, and I’m happy for them. This FISA thing is a big important issue for people like me and most of the rest of blogland, who, admittedly, have health care, aren’t old or handicapped, aren’t being forclosed on, or shot at in Iraq, or getting downsized, etc, and so can afford to worry about shit like this – shit which is also quite important. You are right, and I get it, I really do. Nobody with a brain actually thinks D=R – even on this issue of absolute, abject, pathetic, unforgivable capitulation, most D’s voted the right way every time, with essentially every R doing the opposite. It sucks anyway, and the leadership is still worse than useless on issues like this which may not swing large numbers of uncommitted non-politics-nerds, but still do matter. I paid my money and wasted my time calling Congresspeople despite hating to talk on the phone, and I talked about it constantly and prayed nightly to the The Blessed Dodd to deliver us from “national security” bedwetting horseshit, and I was fucking right godfuckingdamit, and I totally totally lost. I know, take a number. As a lifelong Democrat, I have a passing familiarity with this sort of disappointment. I’m still entitled to be pissed off, and I’m probably within my rights to do a bit of sulking, too.
WHere’s my purple drank?
True story: I took a few Sudafed the other day – on account of my allergies, I need decongestant like a diabetic needs insulin. Asprin does nothing, Allegra does nothing, nothing does nothing except nasty decongestants. Why yes, I am a big sinus-y nerd, and thank you for asking! And nothing happens, and I’m getting this headache like an overweight elephant is trying to wear my skull like a too-small pair of biker shorts. So I look at the package, and apparently Sudafed has replaced my beloved pseudoephedrine with doesntdoshitizine or some such inert bullshit compound which doesn’t fucking do shit. Seriously: do not manufacture or consume meth, it is very bad shit, but where does this fucking shit end? So I’m sitting there with with my eyes about to explode and my head basically being torn in half from the inside, and I start thinking “you know, San Jose apparently has some of the purest heroin this side of Tora Bora. How tricky can that whole scene be?” Obviously not a good idea, especially while you can still buy these brilliantly effective (if rather caustic) decongestant sprays, but I find it interesting that the war on drugs is now making smack seem like a reasonable way to deal with pollen season.
Yet another reason to drop yo 4 in yo 20 in yo styrofoam cup.
July 11, 2008 at 12:33 am
hey, Teh… you can still the sudafed old-style. They just keep it behind the counter in the pharmacy and you have to ask for it. And I don’t know about CA, but in AL, aside from now costing about 3x as much as it used to, you have to sign a log with your name, address, # of boxes and DL# to get it.
But, ooooooohhh, says the gov’t, it’s still freely available over-the-counter!
July 11, 2008 at 4:37 am
I have the allergies too, I prefer Benadryl, and it’s still the original diphenhydramine formula. If they ever change it I’ve found that most OTC sleeping pills use the same stuff (thanks for the tip Mom!), and I sometimes compare sleeping pill price/dosage to Benadryl and if there’s a signifigant difference I’ll get the cheaper.
Cheers.
July 11, 2008 at 7:05 am
In California they just hand you a packet of yellow *gak* crystal meth, from behind the counter, at least in Merced.
July 11, 2008 at 7:07 am
Can anyone make sense out of Obama’s joining the Wobby-Kneed Crowd of pseudo-Democrats who have been giving Republicans everything they want since the days of Wild Newt Gingrich? It’s not enough to say, “He’s a moderate,” or “He needs to signal to people who are worried he may be radical.” I was an Edwards supporter, mildly for Obama–vastly against McSame–but Obama has now trumpeted to start the charge for sanctions against Iran (because those, you know, always work), the Israeli government line against the Palestinians, and the Bush line against the Constitution’s 4th amendment. At this point, I have to seriously wonder whether in Obama we aren’t going to get the best Republican president of the 21st century. And I’m strongly considering a write-in vote for Edwards. After all, why would Obama need the vote of someone whose views he clearly doesn’t represent?
Oh, wait. He’d want me vote. He just wouldn’t care a damn about my opinions. It’s business as usual in Washington, where the unitary executive flies high, and abuse of power reigns.
July 11, 2008 at 7:14 am
Have you tried the Cetinzine AKA Zyrtec? It’s over the counter, and it’s the only thing that ever knocked the shit out of my allergies. Also, maybe get an allergy test and isolate the allergy and get allergy shots? If you go into a liquor store on the East Side you might find some mini-thins, which is pure p- ephedrine. If your allergy is from the dust, the Centinzine works like a charm.
July 11, 2008 at 7:18 am
doesntdoshitizine
July 11, 2008 at 7:29 am
Tsongas and Clinton led on the budget
In which session was that?
July 11, 2008 at 8:15 am
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
Scoreboard.
Also, an x-ray of your skull will indicate whether your nasal septum deformation is causing your headaches, in conjunction with allergies,it’s something that can be easily fixed.
http://www.mejfm.com/volume-5_issue-6/chonic_headache.htm
July 11, 2008 at 9:37 am
I’m sure Steny and Nancy would point out that while yes, they did indeed bow, they did not also scrape.
Democrats bowing but not scraping is bipartisanship, not capitulation. You could look it up.
July 11, 2008 at 11:50 am
MFA: how about “make obeisance by throwing themselves down at the foot of the Emperor, whilst placing said foot upon own necks”?
BTW, Lemuel, damb good point…
Shall we bury the hatchet? {not in each other…}
July 11, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Tsongas and Clinton moved the Democratic Party towards having a balanced budget a priority during the 1992 election campaign.
July 11, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Maybe they didn’t scrape because no one wears hats any more?
July 12, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Todd,
Sherrod Brown voted for the Military Commmissions Act as a Congressperson in 2006.
But you’re right that other than the torture and denial of habeas corpus thing, he’s a “New Deal Democrat.”
Also, please note that Congress is now even less popular than the President. For the first time ever, less than 10% of the public thinks Congress is doing an excellent job. So maybe they’re just trying to work their way up the ladder.
July 13, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Mr. Buttocks,
1. Duely noted.
2, You have to measure each race independently for Congress. People hate all Congressman save their own. When you take the time to examine the details, you’ll find that Democrats should have 55 Senate seats and a 239 to 196 advantage in the House.
A Freshman, Rust-Belt Senator like Brown is going to have to prove he is tough on fill-in-the blank to retain his seat, (terror, drugs, crime). He’s know in part of the state, but Freshman seats are always the most vulnerable and poll driven. Don’t get me wrong New Deal Dems tend to be less in favor of reform and more culturally conservative depending on the State or District. I shouldn’t even say New Deal Dem, because that’s a vestige of the past and every time period’s factions are unique to current events.
Every member is going to have blips that seem incongruent until you look at the polls that they were looking at and it makes sense. Anything that your constituents want over maybe 55%, most non long-term members will support. Also, the Congress scrapple’s together so much legislation you really have to pull apart the pieces to see what buttons were pushed to receive certain actions.