The NSA Fight

National Review Online ^ | 26 July, 2013 | Jonathan Strong

[Errant]

On Friday, July 19, on the House floor, Majority Leader Eric Cantor pulled Representative Justin Amash aside, ushering him into a meeting with whip Kevin McCarthy and three of Amash’s congressional allies.

Cantor pressed Amash to withdraw his amendment to stop the National Security Agency from collecting logs of every American’s phone calls and said he would work to provide a vote on the issue in a future bill.

But several of Cantor’s top aides, who were also present, gave what Amash thought was a more threatening overture: There’s bound to be a procedural technicality we can use to kill the amendment, they said, and we’re going to find it.

[Errant]

"It was Speaker John Boehner who ultimately saved it, giving the amendment the green light after discussing it for the first time with Amash on the House floor on Monday night — minutes before the Rules Committee had been slated to kill it.

Boehner never told Amash why he would give the Michigan Republican, of all people, the privilege of the vote. Amash had helped lead a failed coup attempt against the speaker in January, and Boehner was so deeply opposed to the amendment he took the rare step of voting against it. (By tradition, the speaker doesn’t usually vote.)"

[OneWingedShark]

Hm, makes you think that this vote has/had a lot of things going on under the surface.

[KarlInOhio]

My bet is that Boehner knew he had enough people to vote against it so that it would fail, but was able to allow some Republicans to vote for it so they could brag in their home districts. A vote that close doesn't come to the floor unless the results were as preplanned as a pro wrestling match.

If a lot of Republicans refused to tell Boehner how they would vote, there wouldn't have been a vote.

[Errant]

Sounds like quite a fight alright. I’m trying to understand Boehner’s actions. I suppose he felt he was further endangering his leadership position if the didn’t allow the vote to proceed. Boehner voted against the amendment, rubbing its failure in Amash’s face. It came close to passing though, and that might have been another incentive for Boehner to break tradition and vote.

[Errant]

#4

[mrsmith]

More Dems than Republicans got to make ‘show votes’ against it.
So it did them more good, electorally, than the Republicans.

[Timber Rattler]

Cantor is no better than Pelosi. He’s a liar and a statist.

[PGR88]

Let’s hope someone does a similar raid on the Federal Reserve.

Want to destroy the leftist / progressive agenda with one fell swoop? Shut down the Federal Reserve.

[Gene Eric]

See, it’s not about the NSA, but about our “representatives”.

[Errant]

Doesn’t the Fed’s 100 year charter expire in ‘13? It was created in 1913 IIRC.

[Errant]

Not only Cantor, but also Michele Bachmann! I hear she is in trouble with the ethics board.

‘Not Dead to Me…But in Very Ill Health’: Beck’s Frank Reaction to Michele Bachmann’s Defense of NSA Data Collection

[Timber Rattler]

I swung by her Facebook page after the vote and she was getting hammered hard by her (former) supporters. I guess that she doesn’t care anymore since she made herself a lame duck.

[Jeff Head]

We need to send A LOT of these people home in favor of reps who will uphold their oath to the Constitution and to the party, or to personality, or to what someone thinks is best for us.

THE NSA AND PRISM

Interview with a former Director in the NSA over the full extents of PRISM

[Errant]

Or maybe they have something on her or a family member - perhaps her husband? I think there might be more to her decision not to run again than was stated.

Wouldn't be a bit surprised to learn information collected by the NSA is being use for extortion of our leaders on the Hill.

[Errant]

On another thread, we came up with a play on the words of Rothschild: "Give me control of a nations money supply information, and I care not who makes it’s laws."

[null and void]

Give me control of a nations money supply information, and I care not guarantee that whoever makes it’s laws will make exactly the laws I tell them to...

[neverdem]

BTTT!

[af_vet_rr]

Hm, makes you think that this vote has/had a lot of things going on under the surface.

Depends. In some ways, it's quite simple to understand what happen. According to a couple of reports that looked at campaign contributors, those who voted in support of the NSA received a lot more campaign contributions/support from defense/intelligence contractors, than those who opposed the NSA's activities.