Ooooooh! This is very scary!
Not.
Posted on 02/09/2011 3:09:10 AM PST by broken_arrow1
It was the Congressional version of never count your chickens before they're hatched.
And when you do on Capitol Hill, you can sometimes lose a vote.
The newly-minted House Republican leadership botched a vote Tuesday night when it presumed it had the necessary support to reauthorize the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law imposed after September 11th.
The GOP expected little trouble with the bill. So Republicans brought the Patriot Act to the floor under a special procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for passage. It's a maneuver that's typically reserved for non-controversial legislation or bills that carry wide support.
Renewing that Patriot Act had certainly had wide support. 277 members voted in favor of the measure compared to just 148 nays.
But that's short of the two-thirds supermajority. Which means the House defeated the bill.
With 425 members voting, 284 yea votes were necessary to cross the two-thirds threshold for passage. 26 Republicans voted against renewing the law.
Democrats opposed to the Patriot Act were gleeful at the GOP miscalculation.
"Look at the ‘Don't Tread on Me flag.' It doesn't say don't tread on me, but it's okay if you spy," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), one of the most ardent opponents of the Patriot Act. "What the Republican leadership didn't count on is that they have some new members who are freshmen who are conservative, libertarian, who really do believe in civil liberties."
Eight Republicans whom the GOP regards as freshmen voted against the reauthorization. That's precisely the number of yea votes Republicans needed to pass the bill.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) used to set the schedule when Democrats were in the majority and is familiar with floor meltdowns like the one Tuesday night.
But despite the misstep, Republicans blamed Democrats for the defeat.
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.blogs.foxnews.com ...
Big Sis already wanting to surveil suspected 'lone wolves', which it only suspects may harbor anti-government sentiment. Minority Report.
The patriot act has always been about supressing patriots. I’m glad it did not get extended, but wait; congress will find a way to bring it back in one shape or another. Don’t rule out a booga booga Al CIAda terror event to scare the ninnying congress critters into tightening the scackles on us once more.
Ooooooh! This is very scary!
Not.
Does this mean I can buy real cold medicine again without giving the pharmacy my name, driver’s license, left arm, and first-born child?
Regards,
The idea that government intrusion into our private lives will prevent a terrorist act is blown to shreds when our own government refuses to secure our borders and grants travel visas to terrorist cheerleaders. Add that political correctness gone amok failed to prevent the Ft Hood shootings.
Ping
No, thats a different law designed to make it harder for meth heads to get their supplies.
I didn’t see a list of the yeas and nays. Did I miss it, or should I look elsewhere?
Gonna really crimp Barry and Janets style won’t it?
I am kind of surprised that they went for a super majority. Why bother?
Now they will just tweak it up and bring it back up again for a simple majority. But it looks bad for Boehnner. Pelosi would never have made that mistake. She secured members ahhh .... members in a lock box until they voted as she commanded before returning them.
The GOP only acts conservative, when they are a minority.
From Hot Air Article:
Nine freshmen and three inaugural members of the House Tea Party Caucus cast votes against a proposed extension of three Patriot Act provisions Tuesday night, helping block the measure from passage under fast-track rules…
Those [Republicans] who voted no Tuesday night included Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Paul Broun (Ga.) and Walter B. Jones (N.C.), all of whom were original members of the House Tea Party Caucus when it was founded last summer.
And nine [Republican] freshmen also voted no: Justin Amash (Mich.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.).
Extremely proud of the 26 Patriots that voted along side dems on this issue. I am disappointed people like Bachmann and others supported this measure...now defund DHS!
obama is the REASON THE PA WAS DEFEATED... NO ONE TRUSTS THAT kenyan muslim marxist bastard from hell.
LLS
If Boehner and Cantor didn’t see this vote coming, they are not doing their jobs.
They should know the expected vote, at least the from Republicans, on any major measure before the actual vote is called for.
Its true. I don’t trust Obama with that power. I didn’t trust the last guy either. And I refuse to trust any future administration, regardless of the letters after their name.
Such powers are an insult to my rights and the govt simply does not deserve them.
Now that the Patriot Act is dead, remove the DHS and TSA.
They were never needed in the first place. The FBI should have been our domestic first line of defense, not some trumped up mob of miscreants with an Wyatt Earp complex and a desire to unionize.
The question is, did you see it coming? Seems to me that they tried to renew it quietly in the night with no discussion from their supporters.
Judging from what I have seen here, not even the hardcore right solidly supports it.
Or to vote.
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