Update: UPI reports in Analysts: FISA will suffice:
Some intelligence analysts say the United States is in no danger from Saturday's expiration of a wiretapping law known as the Protect America Act.
They say the expiration will have little effect on national security, despite dire warnings from the Bush administration about renewed efforts by terrorists, The Washington Times reported Saturday.
Domestic wiretapping regulations now revert to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, a 30-year-old law requiring the government to obtain a court warrant to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance in the United States, the Times said.
"There's no reason to think our nation will be in any more danger in 2008 than it was in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006," said Timothy Lee, a scholar at the Cato Institute, explaining the original FISA rules contain the tools necessary for thorough government surveillance. [end update]
So say the conservative Washington Times and the folks at Cato. Congressman Walz is quoted in today's Washington Post article, Surveillance Law Set to Expire Today: Both Sides Weigh Political Effects:
Armed with their talking points, the two parties battled all day yesterday, with Republicans promising to exact a political price and Democratic leaders saying they have nothing to fear. That seemed to be a shift from Wednesday, when 34 House Democrats teamed with a united GOP to vote against simply extending the surveillance law by 21 days -- a move that Republicans said was proof that Democrats fear the issue.
Among those 34 Democrats were numerous freshmen in districts that lean Republican. Five-term Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), who is running for the Senate this year, also bucked his leadership on the vote.
In interviews yesterday, many of those "no" voters showed how complex the issue is. Udall, for instance, said his vote was not due to fear of Republican attacks but because he could not support extending for even three more weeks a warrantless-surveillance bill that he said gave the president the authority to trample the Constitution.
Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), one of the most endangered House freshmen, said he agreed. "I've been rhetoriced to death by those guys, including the president," said Mahoney, who won his conservative district after scandal-scarred Republican Mark Foley resigned. "I think the American people are on to this guy."
Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), another swing-district freshman, wanted to force the House and Senate to stay in Washington and compromise, but he said he is firmly against the Senate's offer of retroactive immunity. "Coming from a military background, I sure don't downplay that there are threats out there," he said, "but the president's demagoguery on this is the equivalent of the boy crying wolf."
Considering that Bush didn't make good on his threat to cancel his trip to Africa because of the spy bill, that's something to that. The Political Party blog at the Post Bulletin notes in Surveillance Act -- Walz votes with GOP against extension:
Walz is among Democrats who oppose that bill over the telecom issue, but also did not want to see the current Protect America Act, which they do not support, extended the 21 days House Democratic leaders proposed past its expiration tomorrow.
Dem leaders said they wanted time to reconcile the House's own FISA bill, which omits telecom immunity, with the Senate's. Walz said Wednesday an extension would kick "tough decisions on this issue down the road for consideration another day."
The Minnesota Hospital Association reports:
U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison (D), Betty McCollum (D), Jim Oberstar (D), Collin Peterson (D), Jim Ramstad (R) and Tim Walz (D) have all signed a congressional letter opposing the hospital cuts President Bush called for in his budget plan.
As reported on Feb. 8, Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal contains $182 billion in cuts to Medicare. The majority of the cuts, upwards of $130 billion, would come from hospitals. In Minnesota, hospitals would see a loss of $1.28 billion.
Bush also would cut Medicaid by $17 billion.
The letter urges the House Budget Committee to protect the patients that depend on Medicare and Medicaid. The letter also encourages committee members to consider the many challenges that hospitals face in providing such care, such as soaring demand, rising numbers of uninsured and new and costly pharmaceuticals.
The Minnesota Coalition on Government Information notes Walz calls for better access to soldiers' medical records.
Over at U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth's website, there's a column by Herseth-Sandlin, Walz and Iowa Republican Steve King decrying Bush's goose egg for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project. Together, they say:
. . .Together with the Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota state governments, 17 of 20 local municipalities participating in this project have already paid almost $106 million toward the Lewis & Clark project. This fulfills the state and local share of the cost almost a decade in advance of the project’s completion. Since the federal government first committed money to the project in 2000, Congress has committed nearly $111 million to the project. Together, we have already made significant progress toward completion and we will not let the lack of a Presidential budget recommendation stall our progress.
As Democrats and Republicans, our team remains committed to working together, without partisan interest, to advocate for funding the Lewis & Clark Regional Water Project. . . .
We've added blogger Ron Amundson to our list of MN-01 progressive bloggers. Formerly a Republican, Amundson is volunteering for Obama and other DFL candidates. An interesting perspective.
Finally, another new voice, in a guest column at the Post Bulletin: Mayo High senior Sarah Hayes writes about student enthusiasm in general and her own experience at a DFL precinct caucus in particular in Young voters passionate about change:
. . .With all of these preparatory events, I was anxious to see what the actual caucus would be like. The Willow Creek Middle School parking lot was full and there was a wait to get in the door. I was excited to see both familiar and young faces wearing stickers for their favorite candidates. Before checking into their designated precinct, many students discussed issues with one another and local politicians Sen. Ann Lynch, Rep. Tina Liebling and others, weighing in on college reciprocity with Wisconsin, the war in Iraq and LGBT rights.
It is understandable why the apathetic young person stereotype exists. Older generations might interpret as apathy what we view as entertainment or communication, such as headphone music, Facebook or text-messaging. Quite the opposite is true; through music and technology we are inspired to express ourselves and opinions about our country.
Call it hormones, rage or teen angst; we're tired of the current political state of the United States. The students in my English class care about more than just some extra credit points. We care about the war, government responsiveness, tuition costs, taxes, the definition of a life and a marriage, standardized tests and politicians confusing the Bible with the Constitution.
Most of all, we're tired of adults thinking that we don't care at all.
You can count on the younger generation to vote yes for intentional and passionate change.
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