FISA Fight: Follow the money

[Dig]

Rush Holt:  The President Has Chosen To Demagogue
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/28/13034/4735/59/465737
by BarbinMD
Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 10:25:33 AM PST

Rush Holt (NJ-12), the Chair of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel had this to say about George Bush's latest fearmongering on the need to pass the Protect AT&T Act:

What the President really wants is a permanent blank check to conduct indiscriminate collection and fishing expeditions without any judicial oversight. This does not lead to better intelligence.

The President has had multiple opportunities to work with Congress to modernize FISA. Instead, he has chosen to demagogue this issue through a propaganda campaign, one dependent on fear-mongering and false accusations. If the President is serious about protecting the American people, he'll drop the campaign-style rhetoric and work with us to pass a realistic and workable intelligence surveillance bill.

The only thing George Bush wants to protect is his own backside.  Telecom immunity is not about protecting America, it's about keeping the American people from finding out the scope of George Bush's warrantless domestic spying. 

[Dig]

FISA Fight: Follow the money
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/28/113652/508/115/465665
by mcjoan
Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 09:56:59 AM PST

Emptywheel has a great catch from Roll Call [subscription]

In a reflection of the sensitivity of the subject matter, and an apparent recognition that they would undermine their own messaging by appearing to be motivated by fundraising concerns, Republicans on and off Capitol Hill declined to comment on the record.

But several confirmed the griping in GOP leadership ranks over the phone companies' shifting donations.

"When those numbers are made evident, it causes some angst," one Republican lobbyist said. "Leadership are told by staff, who look through this. There's communication back and forth" between GOP leadership and downtown.

"There's no question that from time to time staff, and maybe some Members, say to fellow travelers: 'Are you giving us some air cover? Are you helping us help you?'"

Added another K Street Republican: "There's a growing frustration that a lot of these guys getting screwed by Democratic leadership are continuing to load their coffers."

Republican leaders, this lobbyist said, "sit there and scratch their heads and say, 'We've always been very supportive of free markets and our opponents haven't, so why do they keep feeding the beast?'"

Hmmmm.... Sounds to me like the telcos are a little less concerned about amnesty than they are about coming out on the right side of the next Congress. And maybe it sounds like the Republicans are a little more concerned about trying to protect their hold on the telco lobbyists and all their money than they are protecting America.

Go figure.

[Dig]

Telecom Donations Rankling the GOP
By Tory Newmyer and Lauren W. Whittington
Roll Call Staff
February 28, 2008
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_100/news/22299-1.html
With the House Democrats’ refusal to grant retroactive immunity to phone companies — stalling the rewrite of the warrantless wiretapping program — GOP leadership aides are grumbling that their party isn’t getting more political money from the telecommunications industry.