Here's an interesting article I just saw on AP:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Bush Seeks Legal Immunity for Telecoms
Friday August 31, 2007 7:01 PM
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration wants the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that are slapped with privacy suits for cooperating with the White House's controversial warrantless eavesdropping program.
The thing to note here is the reports on the divide in the Democratic caucus. Which would of course mean the Republicans can pass a bill, even with a supposed "Democrat" majority.
There is a divide among Capitol Hill's majority Democrats about whether the companies deserve any protection. Some believe they were operating in good faith, on orders that appeared to be lawful. Others believe lawyers at the companies had a responsibility to ensure the requests weren't an abuse of presidential power.
This is the same type of rumbling that came out for the "Protect America Act", a week or so before it passed. I know I personally never believed the rumblings were anything more than that and I was really surprised when the bill even got to the floor on C-SPAN, while YearlyKos was on at that.
I'm not sure this is such a good thing. Yet again they are negotiating with Bush. Except, this happened with the spring budget bill. Then, it happened with the "Protect America Act" that dismantled FISA, with DNI McConnell reneging on his deal with the Democrats on their version of the bill that was better balanced. Let's not even get into last year's folly with the Military Commissions Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 that Sen. Leahy has criticized.
I'd like to link to an interesting analysis of what happened on the FISA 'fix' too, to see if it can help prevent the same thing: http://www.openleft.com/...
I'm trying to get more information, but here's the picture I have right now. Originally, Pelosi, Clyburn, and Hoyer tried to get a FISA bill passed in the House that was better than the one passed in the Senate, having cut a deal with Director of Intelligence Admiral Mike McConnell. There are some problems with the FISA program that need to be patched, and House Democrats pushed a bill to fix them. We'll call this the 'good bill'. ...