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 ...
The Patriot Act may have been appropriate after 9-11, with oversight by a principled administration and a limited run.
But since the Marxian Mook took over, it’s the bigger threat.
There’s a chance that Boehner and Cantor knew it would go down to defeat, and wanted that ‘surprise’ to resurrect the debate about this onerous, hideous Act.
“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.”
You make an excellent point. You just cut through all the hypocricy and spin.
You mean Congress finally woke up!!! It will never last.
“The GOP only acts conservative, when they are a minority.”
Destroying the Constitution is conservative or did I misread you?
The “patriot” act, passed under Bush, used 9/11 as an excuse to impose new restrictions on the people. Under the guise of “protecting us from terrorism” this law gave legislators what they had been wanting for a long time, but had no excuse to pass.
YESSSSssssss.....there are those in my circle of friends and family that wholeheartedly supported this abomination.....
“The idea that government intrusion into our private lives will prevent a terrorist act “
Funny stuff...I wonder how many on the thread favor drug testing for unemployment?
THAT govt intrusion gets a lot of support from FR posters...
The fact the libtard democrats like KUCHINICH are 100% against the patriot act should tell Freepers something....
30 Terrorist Plots Foiled: How the System Worked
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/04/30-terrorist-plots-foiled-how-the-system-worked
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/04/30-terrorist-plots-foiled-how-the-system-worked
“Bush, used 9/11 as an excuse to impose new restrictions on the people”
Stop parroting libtard talking points.
What next?..Bush is a war criminal?
This bill will be back. The real story here might be that the new Republican leadership, like Republican leadership in the past, still doesn’t know how to use its majority status.
It tells me that even Kuchinich is going to make sense once or twice a decade.
Should the patriot act go away ever? Or should the populace be frightened into trading their freedom for security in perpetuity?
I’m with you -
we needed SOME way of detecting and thwarting terrorists,
but this much power in the hands of the likes of Obama is VERY dangerous,
because you know that leftists ALWAYS re-direct the power of the state away from foreign enemies
and toward their political “enemies”.
What of the 30 terrorist were caught using the Pat Act? Be specific.
Does this mean that we can fly without having our junk touched?
No, no! Pick me! Pick me!
“Bush lied, people died!”
I am trying to understand why the GOP wants to renew this POS legislation. They are no better than the Dims.
Me, I’m glad! It really ticked me off when they passed it in the first place.
No, we just get fondled with dues paying union members now. They get to look for the union label in our underwear.
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