The Protect Telecoms Act

A compromise on the Protect America Act is afoot in the House of Representatives, with evermore examples of flexible spine contortions.

In this version of the expanded FISA bill, Congress will give Bush and his corporate buddies at the telecoms the immunity they desire. But, in a parliamentary move, the bill will be split in two so that so-called "liberal" Democrats will be able to vote against immunity, while voting for the expanded FISA. According to the Washington Post:

This procedural move would allow many Democrats to vote against immunity but still make its approval all but certain, since almost every Republican and some centrist Democrats would vote in favor.

I called my reprentative Rosa Delauro's office yesterday to urge her to vote against the bill. Her staffed claimed not to know where she stands on the issue.

FISA, as it stands, gives the government all the power it needs to spy on terrorists, without having those taps leaking over the entire citizenship. Call your representative and hold them responsible, since they seem incapable of holding the criminal administration and its corporate cronies accountable.