Chris Coons Does His Job. Tom Carper Doesn’t.
I want to thank Senator Coons for voting against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act extension of warrantless wiretapping, otherwise known as the Repeal of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Senator Carper voted for it like a true red conservative Democrat.
Amen. Senator Coons wins my appreciation here bigtime.
Although this is plainly not a conservative/liberal split since the biggest ramrod of repealing the 4th Amendment has consistently been the team of Diane Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss.
True enough, Rand Paul voted against as well, but he was the only Republican to do so. 23 Democrats voted against. I think Feinstein’s support has more to do with her chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee.
Props to Coons for his No vote here. Even more props if the vote had been closer.
” 23 Democrats voted against. ”
Have we found our long-lost civil liberties caucus? Too bad it’s not bigger.
23 Democrats? I guess Lee, Paul, Murkowski changed parties. DeMint also is not a supporter.
I stand corrected. Demint abstained, did not vote against despite RD’s allusions to the contrary. The abstention most likely had to do with his upcoming career in the Heritage Foundation. And on this issue, voting present or abstaining is cowardly.
I missed Lee and Murkowski. So the real total is 20 Democrats (including Sanders) and 3 Republicans.
RD, I am quite confused by your comment, however. Are you now an opponent of warrantless wiretapping? If I recall correctly, you were quite supportive back in 2005.
@DD “I think Feinstein’s support has more to do with her chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee.”
Perhaps. But I think she has been steadily evolving into a more authoritarian figure over the past several years. It could be that as Chair of the Intel committee she has seen things (or has been carefully manipulated to see things) that so shocked her she has changed her course. That does happen to people. But regardless of how she got here, to find her standing with Saxby Chambliss on virtually any issue ought to be a big warning flag.
It depends. I have always been opposed to the controversial parts of the Patriot Acts and their extentions including the first discussion in 2001. FISA is useful and does not violate the Constitution in most cases, because it is geared to foreign intelligence not law enforcement. There are parts that I think have outlived their need, which is why they were sunsetted. I am always opposed to spying on American citizens on American soil, the Constitution says that you cannot use it against them if you do. If for military intelligence, we need to listen to a conversation that has one end here, I am okay with that, but you cannot use it to prosecute. If you were listening into a foreign conversation, it turned out to have an American contact, I believe that you must then get a warrant to continue or else you can only use the information in foreign operations.
What makes me nervous about FISA are the secret courts. They make sense, but where is the oversight?
I was also disturbed in 2008 with some expansions to the law. I guess the easiest way to say it, is the law is even broader now than in 2005.
I was reading the twitter feed as the voting commenced on this bill. The delay of a bill the Senate’s had from the House for months until they had *GASP* four days to pass it or else was the first red flag. Coons supported several of the reasonable amendments proposed but denied debate because of this faux rush to the finish.
Let’s hope Coons is also one of the yes votes for filibuster reform. News this morning is that Harry Reid has 51 – enough to get the job done.
No conservative would vote for this. The Republican Party isn’t conservative it is neo conservative. I’ll keep pointing out the hypocrisy and conflict of terms until it changes.
Carper voted against the fiscal cliff bill to embarrass the Vice President because he is jelous of his position. Carper is a worm that has been in power too long. He’s a three faced phony the good, bad and ugly.