The senate is currently considering a bill changing provisions of the FISA act. Initially it was a blank check to the administration to keep spying with impunity, but it looks like the few democrats in the senate with principles managed to get rid of the most odious provisions.

There is one exception: the bill provides immunity for companies that helped the administration with illegal wiretaps. Of course this is absurd, no company should think that they will get a pass on breaking the law if they did so on government request. Senator Dodd has placed a “hold” on the bill, which is a great move and goes a long way towards stopping it.

Interestingly, the leadership is trying to stop Dodd from blocking this bill. If you find this odd or confusing, realize that the telecom industry has of late given millions to the new majority party. They are for sale, and they are doing what they were paid for.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 6:32 and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.