Lobbyists Duel Over Rewrite of FISA Surveillance Law

[babylonsister]

Lobbyists Duel Over Rewrite of Surveillance Law
By Tim Starks, CQ Staff

As lawmakers try to negotiate an overhaul of surveillance legislation, a major lobbying war is under way.


The issue is whether the legislation should provide legal immunity to telephone companies that assisted President Bush’s anti-terrorist domestic spying program.

In the first three months of this year, three of the nation’s biggest telecommunications companies have employed 37 lobbying firms to urge lawmakers to include such immunity in any overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA, PL 95-511).

Supporting their efforts is an assortment of political organizations and advocacy groups that focus on national security issues.

Meanwhile, organizations that advocate for privacy have organized their own lobbying campaign aimed at opposing immunity for the telephone companies.

At stake are potentially billions of dollars stemming from lawsuits against the telecommunications companies that were filed when the existence of Bush’s domestic wiretapping program became known in 2005.

more...

http://www.cq.com/document/display.do?docid=2886665&sourcetype=6

[annabanana]

1. The article makes it sound like deep pockets on both sides...

I guess they consider the ACLU a powerful lobby.. The people's advocates in this fight are all small donation grass roots good government people..

This means that we have to have the same stamina that the telecoms have when it comes to pressure. Write your reps regularly... support privacy and Civil Liberty advocates..

If we take our eye off the ball, we could lose this, in spite of the number of times we've beaten it back...

[ColbertWatcher]

2. When it is convenient, the GOP-controlled media always equates...

...a liberal idea with it's corporate anti-matter. And so it is with lobbying.

For them, the energy companies have the same influence as MADD, or the Sierra Club.

[StickyIckes]

3. what you said