Don't kid yourself. It's just a "strategic retreat". They'll be back, once they perceive that the heat's off, and then they'll finish the job. They have NO intention of letting this one slip by.
They'll do with this exactly what they did with "Know Your Customer", "Total Information Awareness", and countless other atrocities that moved "We The People" to stand up and said "NO!" They will bide their time, wait until things "cool down", and then quietly slip it in when no one's looking -- with a different title, and maybe as an amendment, buried deep in some unrelated bill - in a "boring" part that no one will read, until it's too late.
It's how sausage is made.
I have to agree with everything you're saying in each post here. Disgusting bass turds.