Wolf Holds Repub Party Line, Votes for Immunity

By: hcc in va
Published On: 3/14/2008 12:52:45 PM

Here is a summary, extracted from a Kos diary, of the present status of the FISA bills:

A procedural recap of what happened, and is happening, on FISA:

  1. The House passed an immunity-free bill, H.R. 3773

  2. The Senate passed a bill with immunity in it, S. 2248

  3. The Senate stripped out the text of H.R. 3773 and substituted in the text of S. 2248, then sent the amended H.R. 3773 back to the House

  4. Conyers and Reyes have an amendment to H.R. 3773 (as amended by the Senate) that would strip out what the Senate put in (the text of S. 2248) and put in its place the new, immunity-free language.

The House just voted on and passed the rule that governs debate on the question of whether or not to accept the Conyers-Reyes amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3773.

Now, after Frank Wolf's (Rethug, VA-10) office refused to call on me during a conference call Town Hall meeting on Monday, and then refused to advise me of his stand on retroactive immunity on a phone call, I did what I should have done in the first place:  Look it Up :)  Surprise, surprise, he voted with every other Rethug in VA against HR 3773 which did NOT have retroactive immunity.  Here is a CLEAR contrast with his opponent, Judy Feder, who has proclaimed a very strong position opposing immunity.  Let's get out there and work for Judy!

Comments



Don't all speak at once :) (hcc in va - 3/14/2008 2:22:08 PM)


First good news on this issues in a long time (Ron1 - 3/14/2008 4:15:17 PM)
There's still a decent chance this was a temporary win of one battle, while the war ends up being lost. But there is a lot of good rhetoric coming from Pelosi, Conyers, and many of the freshmen Dem Reps and even many Blue Dogs. Even Steny Hoyer talked a good game this round.

The pushback on this issue from the lefty-sphere and civil liberties groups has allowed us to get to at least April without full capitulation to Bush. I am still skeptical, because there are about 15-20 Dems who I doubt will be with us if the Senate does its normal el-fold-o, but we'll see.

I continue to feel strongly that this issue is a big, BIG time loser for Republicans, and absolutely Mr. Wolf should be hosited onto his own petard for his votes -- especially on this issue. This so-called 'moderate' can't even vote for bills which do almost the bare minimum to enforce our 4th Ameendment liberties, and his vote highlights his belief that the legislature may in a judicial capacity to settle lawsuits that citizens bring under their due process rights to get redress for their liberties being illegally infringed upon.

Props to Judy for highlighting this issue and for being in front on the side of liberty.

Hopefully as we get closer to November 2008, House and Senate Dems will see that the age of Bush is nearing an end, and will realize that there is no more need to fear attack ads based on fear and lies, and will vote to stand up for our constitutional foundation.



Yes, this was a suprising and crucially important victory today (hcc in va - 3/14/2008 4:48:49 PM)
Could be temporary, but maybe indeed the tide is turning, the lights are coming on with the electorate as to just how desperate Bush seems, more and more every day - "I think, dear Brutus, you protesteth too much."  What is he hiding?  A lot, I would bet. Hey, after all, he caught that terrorist Spitzer in his surveillance net, didn't he?
Remember, that 21 Blue Dogs urged the Dem Congress to capitulate and, in the end, 15-16 of those voted the right way.  Wolf continues to perpetuate the lies...the lies that say this has to do with 9/11 when in fact these phone companies were approached 6-7 months BEFORE 9/11 to do Bush's spying.  It has NOTHING to do with protecting America.  Every time Wolf has a public meeting, we must get down there and call him out on it.  Judy Feder is out front on this issue and I do believe that with the proper explanations even the most diverse of the VA-10 electorate can be made to understand what's going on here.  We don't need a Congressman who provides a knee-JERK reaction to Bush's bidding.

Also, although it seems hopeless at this point, a few "do the right thing" entreaties to Jim Webb, politely of course, would be in order.  Maybe he'll come around.  And if he does, I'll put his bumper sticker back on my Prius.



Hard To Tell How Senator Webb Will Vote (BP - 3/14/2008 5:34:25 PM)
His statements and votes on this issue could be interpreted either way.  

Finding out the truth looks like a job for...

...Mark Levine.  See: http://www.raisingkaine.com/sh...  



Not hard at all. He voted the WRONG WAY (hcc in va - 3/14/2008 5:40:45 PM)
He voted to give Bush everything he wanted.  Do you have information to the contrary?  Do you have reason to believe he might change his mind?  I sure hope so, although I'm not sure if the Senate gets another chance to vote on this or not.    I thought he was smarter than to fall for Bush's fear mongering....I was apparently wrong.  You know, after we help elect Democrats we must not stop, we must watch them and steer them in the right(or, more accurately, left) direction, if needed.

May I suggest, Lowell, that you invite Webb do a Raising Kaine conference (is there such a thing?  some bar somewhere?) since you were pretty much responsible for getting him to run, as I recall, and getting him elected, along with a couple of other northern VA liberals.  Let's see if he is willing to face us and 'splain himself.



The Only Information I Have... (BP - 3/14/2008 6:05:35 PM)
...is the information contained in Senator Webb's prior public statements.  He voted against the Dodd Amendment, but publically urged the conference committee members not to include full immunity for telecoms (or at least he appeared to do so).  

I digitally nailed my questions to the wall in a prior thread: http://www.raisingkaine.com/sh...