Democratic Leadership Should Have Stepped Up on FISA

This past weekend, Congress capitulated to the Administration and gave it the authority to conduct warrantless dragnets of American’s international phone calls and emails.  And did the Administration thank Congress?  No. It called for more authority and for a hand out to the telecommunications companies that turned over our records and calls in the absence of a warrant, which they knew was required.

Where will Congress go from here?  More unfettered power for an Administration that has no respect for the privacy of the citizenry that elected it?  A get out of jail free card for the companies that facilitated wiretapping, that until Sunday, was a crime?

Congress was meant to be an independent branch of government.  Democratic leadership should step up and assert their prerogative as such, and get to the bottom of what the Administration has been doing with our private information for the past six years. They still have not received basic answers about how intelligence on American soil works or how many of us have had our rights violated.  The Congress must also reign in the unconstitutional authority it granted the Administration this past weekend.  Democrats were elected to stop a President that is out of control – not grease the wheels for further abuse.  Hopefully it won’t take the full six months to pass legislation that will protect American communications.  With any luck, Congressional leadership will grow a spine before then.