Bigoted Republican torchbearer dies at age 86

While it’s seldom appropriate to “celebrate” someone’s death, there is a certain poetic justice in Jesse Helms passing away as we honor freedom and liberty.  He did his damndest to prevent equality under the law to a whole bunch of people.

Par for Specter’s course

Think Progress is reporting that Senator Specter, waffling weenie of Pennsylvania, changed his vote on the Medicare bill after last minute consultation with the White House.

Yet again, we see how right Harry Reid was when he said Specter’s with us whenever we don’t need him.

Down to the (tapped) wire

Politico tells the truth about the turncoat Democrats who flip flopped on FISA in the House.

House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last week’s FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org.

In March, the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity. But last week, 94 Democrats who supported the March amendment voted to support the compromise FISA legislation, which includes a provision that could let telecom companies that cooperated with the government’s warrantless electronic surveillance off the hook.

The 94 Democrats who changed their positions received on average $8,359 in contributions from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint from Jan. 2005 to March 2008, according to the analysis by MAPLight, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the connection between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.

Just what we need - the “best” government blood money can buy.  Bastards.

Emptywheel at FDL goes through the chronology now since the Senate has planned a FISA vote July 8.  Read it and weep - and get working on your senators.

 

Don’t let them do it

FDL with the numbers you need to know to keep the heat on on FISA.

House of Representatives sodomizes the Constitution

The retroactive immunity bill passed. Easily.

Now things move to the Senate, where it MUST be blocked.

Heads I win, tails you lose

An excellent, must read opinion piece in the New York Times looks at the alleged “compromise” on FISA currently being debated in the halls of Congre$$.

The bill is not a compromise. The final details are being worked out, but all indications are that many of its provisions are both unnecessary and a threat to the Bill of Rights. The White House and the Congressional Republicans who support the bill have two real aims. They want to undermine the power of the courts to review the legality of domestic spying programs. And they want to give a legal shield to the telecommunications companies that broke the law by helping Mr. Bush carry out his warrantless wiretapping operation.

… Under the so-called compromise, the question of immunity would be decided by a federal district court — a concession by Mr. Bond, who originally wanted the FISA court, which meets in secret and is unsuited to the task, to decide. What is unacceptable, though, is that the district court would be instructed to decide based solely on whether the Bush administration certifies that the companies were told the spying was legal. If the aim is to allow a court hearing on the president’s spying, the lawsuits should be allowed to proceed — and the courts should be able to resolve them the way they resolve every other case. Republicans, who complain about judges making laws from the bench, should not be making judicial decisions from Capitol Hill.

Read it in full.

As usual, Greenwald leads a good fight.

Republican’t obstructionism

Wingnuts in action, forcing the senate to inaction.

more about “Republican’t obstructionism“, posted with vodpod

Hat tip: Digby

Here we go again

FDL on the latest attempt to screw over the American public compromise on FISA.  Read in full, then hit the phones.

Colorado ads

And also

Ouch!

Abandoning the troops

Constant vigilence on FISA

Here we go again.  Courtesy of Daily Kos:

Before decamping again for recess last week, the Republicans gave notice that, after vacation, they’re going to hold their breath until they turn blue over FISA:

Republicans unveiled their latest compromise offer Thursday to rewrite electronic surveillance rules, saying they can make no more concessions to Democrats.

Here’s our first problem, and one the Democrats would do well to remember: the Republicans aren’t in charge. The Dems don’t need their concessions, and need to stop acting as if they do. This issue is not going to be the one that turns around the disastrous election year that Republicans from Tom Davis to Tom Coburn are predicting. Rather than bending over backwards to negotiate with these people while they’re down, Dems would do better to give them a well-placed kick where their AT&T-padded wallets reside.

No retroactive immunity.  Period.  End of discussion.

It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Progress by McConnell

The Sunlight Foundation catches on to another inconvenient truth: Those in power who benefit from the status quo are loath to change.

“At Sunlight, when we learned that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was convening a task force to address the issue of earmarks, we knew the odds of progress were slim. McConnell is an appropriator, a champion of earmarks and an ardent foe of almost every conceivable good government reform. He also has a keen political ear. So by forming a task force on earmark reform, he could arguably demonstrate action without actually moving. As “The Hill” reports here, Senator McConnell not only continues placing obstacles to moderate reform, but he is resisting a push for earmark transparency coming from within his own party.

How did McConnell undertake the issue without putting his caucus at risk of actually having to change its ways on earmarks? He appointed a working group with members on such opposite ends of the earmark spectrum odds were against success. Then he told them to come up with a unanimous recommendation. When they did that, McConnell moved the goal line again, saying he would attempt to work with the Democratic Leader to consider creating a Senate Rule the encompassed the suggestions. Even the most casual political observer wouldn’t be surprised to find that those “negotiations” came to nothing.

hat tip: TMV

Kennedy diagnosed with brain tumor

And yes, it’s cancerous.

A cancerous brain tumor caused the seizure Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered over the weekend, doctors said Tuesday in a grim diagnosis for one of American politics’ most enduring figures.

Doctors for the Massachusetts Democrat say tests conducted after Kennedy suffered a seizure this weekend show a tumor in his left parietal lobe. Preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma.

His treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy.

Hitting them on the record

A master at work

The New York Times shares a few of Barney Frank’s one liners.

Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, is a master of the one-liner — a self-described “left-handed, gay Jew” who is not accustomed to being in the majority on anything and yet is one of the most powerful members of Congress. Here are some examples, customarily delivered rapid-fire in his trademark accent, a New Jersey-Boston blend.

Read it all.