Immunity for AT&T/Verizon ILLEGAL Spying?: Two Congressional Houses Divided

[McCamy Taylor]

A few days ago, I predicted that Congress was going to buckle and give the White House its expanded illegal spying authorization. The Democrats would do this, I predicted, because they are now being showered with campaign contributions from AT&T and Verizon, which broke the law and helped the Bush administration illegally spy on American citizens. Democrats would claim that they were going along with the administration, because they did not want to look "soft on terror" before the 2008 elections.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Taylor/72

Now, the New York Times is confirming what I wrote--in part.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/washington/09nsa.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1191902707-Cgvctj5d4K8QO/DNCxBSTw

Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.

<snip>
Although willing to oppose the White House on the Iraq war, they remain nervous that they will be called soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on gathering intelligence.

<snip>
A competing proposal in the Senate, still being drafted, may be even closer in line with the administration plan, with the possibility of including retroactive immunity for telecommunications utilities that participated in the once-secret program to eavesdrop without court warrants.

This looks pretty bad, until you read on down and discover that the House is firmly opposed to granting the two headed Phone Company monster immunity from the law suit which is working its way through federal court.

Perhaps most important in the eyes of Democratic supporters, the House bill would not give retroactive immunity to the telecommunications utilities that participated in the eavesdropping. That has been a top priority of the administration. The temporary measure gave the utilities immunity for future acts, but not past deeds.

<snip>

The immunity issue may prove to be the crucial sticking point between whatever proposals the House and Senate ultimately pass. Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who was among the harshest critics of the temporary bill, said in an interview he would vigorously oppose any effort to grant retroactive legal protection to telecommunications utilities.

“There is heavy pressure on the immunity, and we should not cave an inch on that,” Mr. Nadler said.

Way to go House! Now it is up to us to help the members of the House of Representatives stand strong by contacting them and letting them know that holding telecommunications giants responsible for their behavior is important to their constituents. And tell your Senator what you think of their version, too. Keep in mind that the worst that can happen is that Senate Republicans can filibuster a bill that does not give immunity to AT&T and Verizon, delaying the passage of civil rights busting legislation. Big boo hoo! If the administration is desperate enough to get any sort of legislation passed, it will have to give up its attempt to protect its partners in crime.

The telecommunications industry thinks that it has a right to try to squeeze a quarter of a million dollars from one woman for downloading a handful of songs. How much worse is it for a company with lawyers that should have known better to violate the privacy rights of millions of Americans? If AT&T and Verizon are not held accountable, companies will break the law again and again in an attempt to win favor with different political groups or office holders.

Congress can do something right for a change, though it is going to be hard. You do not need a crystal ball to know that the FBI will unveil a "terra" plot this week. Maybe there will even be a bombing somewhere in Europe. We will be told that early warning was obtained, because of an illegal wiretap. A photo op of an AT&T employee zeroing on a suspicious call, a series of special alerts, Dick Cheney predicting the end of civilization as we know it from his bunker if the Phone Company suffers any financial risk----

Be strong, Congress. Nature gave you a spine so you could crawl from the ocean and stand up on your own two feet. If something does go "boom" somewhere in the United States, it is Homeland Security's fault, not yours, and also W.'s, for starting the stupid war in Iraq that made us less safe, not more.

[Lint Head]

1. I just received porno on Verizon. I called to complain and they

said they could do nothing about it. It is a federal crime to transmit porno over public, federally controlled, utilities of which Verizon is. I received it in error but what if a teenager or subteen or my grandmother had opened a text message only to see it.
Verizon is not in the phone business with the public interest in mind. :dem:

[midnight]

2. How interesting.... Verizon phone just went out of commission.

Our landlines owned by AT&T frequently don't work.... What the hell are we supposte to do?

[Hieronymus]

5. Try T-Mobile.

[EV_Ares]

6. Wasn't T-Mobile part of the Bush surveillance as well as AT&T? eom

[Spiffarino]

3. Rather than complain about my phone service...

I'll just K&R this fabulously informative thread.

:kick:

[Theduckno2]

4. Standing fast against retroactive immunity is praiseworthy.

The Bush administration has worked hard to reduce accountability for its friends. Voluntary reductions in green house gases versus hard caps, tort reform to limit settlements, The Clean Skies Initiative, Scooter Libby and the list goes on.

The lawless recklessness of Bushco needs to be stopped.

The article is a good read.