Congress approves expansion of presidential wiretapping powers
So let me get this straight: the White House says “we think we should be able to eavesdrop on virtually any domestic-to-foreign phone call without court oversight, based on the say-so of one of the president’s subordinates.” And the Democrats response was “Hell no! Warrantless spying should require the say-so of two of the president’s subordinates!”Arizona's Congressmen voted along party lines except for Harry Mitchell, who sided with the Republicans in favor of the bill, which provides for this expansion of powers for the next six months. (UPDATE, August 8, 2007: Actually, McCain didn't vote on this bill at all, it's another of his no-shows.)
Kudos to Pastor, Grijalva, and Giffords for voting against this.
(Hat tip to Technology Liberation Front and Stranger Fruit.)
UPDATE (August 7, 2007): Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars has more on how this bill has gutted any oversight of what the Executive branch is doing.
1 comment:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-secret-search-powers/2007/07/31/1185647903263.html
Here in .au, our feds are about to get the right to monitor any communications, without a warrant; and to search premises based on a warrant they issue themselves, which they don't have to inform anyone about until 18 months after the fact.
At least the US still has some checks and balances.
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