A Bad Deal - Patriot Act Update

As many of you already know, the White House struck a deal with Republicans on the Patriot Act late yesterday, and it looks like they are on their way to pushing their bad deal through Congress.  Unfortunately, the few minor changes to which the White House agreed simply do not address the major problems with the Act.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I will strongly oppose this one-sided deal, and I will use every option at my disposal to stop it or any reauthorization of the Patriot Act that does not protect the rights and freedoms of law-abiding Americans.  People ask if that means a filibuster -- it sure does.  But, with the Republicans who were on our side and even some Democrats jumping ship, a filibuster will be more difficult.  The other side needs 60 votes to cut off debate, they had 53 in December, so there is a good chance they will now be able to get them.

The White House refused to make some of the reasonable changes that the entire Senate accepted last summer so that it could try to turn this into a partisan issue and gain some political advantage for doing so.  They shouldn't be playing partisan politics and I'm disappointed that some of my Democratic colleagues are ready to fold so easily.  The President's efforts to intimidate our side seem to be working.  

Something everyone can do is contact the Senate Democrats, every single one of them, and explain how this deal doesn't come close to protecting our rights and freedoms.  I understand the pressure that Senators were under -- I've been there before.  But this deal comes nowhere near the significant, although very reasonable, changes in the law for which we were fighting and which every Senator supported earlier last year.  Using this fig leaf of a deal as an excuse to back down is unacceptable.

As Democrats, if we can't stand up for basic values like liberty and freedom, what do we stand for?  We cannot fold in the face of fear and intimidation by the White House.  (Especially if we hope to have any chance of winning future elections.)  Rolling over now is not the answer.