Warrantless spying passes with GOP- vote tally count.

GOP and Feinstein join to fulfill Obama’s demand for renewed warrantless eavesdropping

H.R. 5949: FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 (On Passage of the Bill) Vote and Bill for individual votes here

Tthe Senate on Friday morning passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by a vote of 73-23 and will send it to President Obama’s desk for signature.

No surprise is there? Feinstein makes the remark that there is not enough time to debate the bill. Typical progressive logic. Forget that the Senate has done nothing for months. Barely a ripple in the news. The Obama agenda continues without so much of many GOPer complaints. A few mild amendments were quickly dispatched with. I looked for a good recent video of the event while I still have the right to look at it. .The choices for comments were a piece from Russian news, Young Turks and Rand Paul. Paul gives us a bit of history on the matter. So here we go:

The worst of Dick Cheney while advancing Obama’s agenda.

 

Wyden yesterday had two amendments: one that would simply require the NSA to give a general estimate of how many Americans are having their communications intercepted under this law (information the NSA has steadfastly refused to provide), and another which would state that the NSA is barred from eavesdropping on Americans on US soil without a warrant. Merkley’s amendment would compel the public release of secret judicial rulings from the FISA court which purport to interpret the scope of the eavesdropping law on the ground that “secret law is inconsistent with democratic governance”; the Obama administration has refused to release a single such opinion even though the court, “on at least one occasion”, found that the government was violating the Fourth Amendment in how it was using the law to eavesdrop on Americans

But the Obama White House opposed all amendments, demanding a “clean” renewal of the law without any oversight or transparency reforms. Earlier this month, the GOP-led House complied by passing a reform-free version of the law’s renewal, and sent the bill Obama wanted to the Senate, where it was debated yesterday afternoon.

 The Democratic Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, took the lead in attacking Wyden, Merkley, Udall and Paul with the most foul Cheneyite accusations, and demanded renewal of the FISA law without any reforms. And then predictably, in virtually identical 37-54 votes, Feinstein and her conservative-Democratic comrades joined with virtually the entire GOP caucus (except for three Senators: Paul, Mike Lee and Dean Heller) to reject each one of the proposed amendments and thus give Obama exactly what he demanded: reform-free renewal of the law (while a few Democratic Senators have displayed genuine, sustained commitment to these issues, most Democrats who voted against FISA renewal yesterday did so symbolically and half-heartedly, knowing and not caring that they would lose as evidenced by the lack of an attempted filibuster).

The Guardian

‘John Doe’ Who Fought FBI Spying Freed From Gag Order

At the time of 9/11, it seemed reasonable to do all that was necessary to protect Americans. Even though there was a special court called FISA, where authorization could be given quickly for searches of various things, the “warrantless” searches began and I was not opposed. I had full faith that my government- Bush– would act in my best interest. Oh, there was a nagging concern, knowing the Constitution was being abridged, but I was assured, this had happened before- you know, Lincoln’s time.. Habeas Corpus was thrown overboard. It is going to be okay. It was a scary time. We didn’t know when the next hit was coming, but I was sure it was.

Now we come to 2010. Now the worm turns. I know that what is going on is doubtful in my best interest.. or even close. I am left with the result. A unbrideled Government. For the first time, I agree with the ACLU.

The owner of an internet service provider who mounted a high-profile court challenge to a secret FBI records demand has finally been partially released from a 6-year-old gag order that forced him to keep his role in the case a secret from even his closest friends and family. He can now identify himself and discuss the case, although he still can’t reveal what information the FBI sought.

Despite the fact that the FBI later dropped its demand for the records, Merrill was prohibited from telling his fiancée, friends or family members that he had received the letter or that he was embroiled in a lawsuit challenging its legitimacy

A national security letter is an informal administrative letter the FBI can use to secretly demand customer records from ISPs, financial institutions, libraries, insurance companies, travel agencies, stockbrokers, car dealerships and others. NSLs have been used since the 1980s, but the Patriot Act, passed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and a subsequent revision in 2003 expanded the kinds of records that could be obtained with an NSL.

With an NSL, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to obtain such records, nor does it need to prove just cause. An FBI field agent simply needs to draft an NSL stating the information being sought is “relevant” to a national security investigation.

The letters come with a life-long gag order.

Read More At Wired here