Bowing to President Bush’s demands, the Senate approved and sent the White House a bill Wednesday to overhaul bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.
The relatively one-sided vote, 69-28, came only after a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks. It ended almost a year of wrangling over surveillance rules and the president’s warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The House passed the same bill last month, and Bush said he would sign it soon.
How unsurprising. They rejected three separate amendments that would have lessened the slaughter of the 4th Amendment.
McCain missed the vote.
Obama, Lieberman, Specter voted Aye.
Clinton, Schumer, Kerry, Dodd and “my representives” here in NJ, Lautenberg and Menendez all voted Nay.
Didn’t Obama say back in October that he would filibuster any bill that included retroactive immunity for the telcos?
“Change” … as in more power for the executive branch.