U.S. Supreme Court Wont Hear Campaign Finance Case

On March 24, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 07-953. This is the case brought by people who wanted to make and advertise a film that would be shown in theaters and would try to make a profit. Yet the subject of the film would be to attack Hillary Clinton. The group wanted to be free of campaign finance reporting requirements.

Technically, the Court ruled that it doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear this case, because of procedural problems. This is slightly different than merely choosing not to hear the case.

FISA = Free Pass

The Senate votes 69-29-2 to let the Telecom companies off the hook for their role in revealing private consumer information to the intelligence community under the direction of the Bush Administration. Millionaires giving millionaires a Get Out of Jail Free Card and it's disgusting. I know there are some complex legal issues at stake here, but strip away the ambiguity of the law and this is morally wrong.

For the record, here's the vote:

YEAs ---69
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)

NAYs ---29
Akaka (D-HI)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 2
Clinton (D-NY)
Graham (R-SC)




Notice that McCain voted "Yea", Obama voted "Nay", and Clinton didn't show up. For what it's worth. Send an e-mail to your senator to complain if they supported this....

BREAKING: Hillary Clinton To Vote No On Cloture Tomorrow UPDATE: Barack Obama Will Be There Too

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/27/breaking-hillary-clinton-to-vote-no-on-cloture-tomorrow/

According to the Clinton campaign, Hillary Clinton will be in the Senate tomorrow to vote "no" on cloture on the Intel version of the FISA bill. The vote is scheduled to take place at 4:30 pm tomorrow. I've also been trying to confirm whether Barack Obama will be there. His campaign people have not gotten back to me, but Obama does have a 4pm fundraiser scheduled in Washington DC. Bravo, Senator Clinton. Well done. UPDATE: The Obama campaign confirms that Senator Obama will be there too, and voting "no." Way to go, Senator. Looks like we're gonna have quite a CSPAN liveblog party tomorrow.

Real Id they can't stop talking about it

The Real ID was in the news the other day when Homeland Wrecker Chertoff demanded states comply immediately. They cut the cost of the project in half, hoping the money struggling states would accept. But there not, Upon further research I see if your state rejects it, you become non citizens. Since 17 states already have, Welcome my fellow refugees. You will be denied entry on planes, trains and automobiles.

This was also brought up during the Florida msnbc debate Ghoulie mentioned tamper proof ids for security reasons. Its funny how some states have strict standards in place such as photo id, social security card, birth certificate and proof of address, to name a few.

I was denied my licence renewal because my birth certificate had a tear. I had to go 30 miles out my way to get another copy. Another time I brought my friend to take his licence test and I mistakenly forgot my older insurance card. I had my new one that takes effect in a few days. Guess what they refused it didn't matter that my policy didn't change was simply renewed. It didn't matter that they have the information on file. It didn't matter that my policy number didn't even change.

Some states let illegal immigrants get licences with no id and let them go when they get caught driving without them. While arresting us for not complying with the smallest law. Why are we under the scope? When did we become public enemy number one?

If you wanted tighter restrictions on Ids and licences then do it. Dint lie out your ass for the reasons if you wanted a unified system then enforce it. The only gaps are what was created by you. Stop blaming the states for your failures and stop blaming us.

Noone wants a national Id and we wont take them. Americans are not dumb enough to think that putting all there personal info on one source is protection against identity theft. Maybe if you had a better track record wire tapping, torture, secret prisons, illegal proxy wars, etc. Someone might believe you, but I don't.

Chris Dodd and ACLU - Petition to Stop FISA

President Bush wants Congress to pass a bill that lets the government spy on the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.

He also wants a bill that makes sure the truth about illegal spying on the emails and phone calls of Americans is never exposed. He does this by stopping lawsuits against phone companies that illegally handed over the phone calls and emails of Americans to the government.

But very soon, the Senate will vote on a bill to regulate spying on the emails and phone calls of Americans. What we don’t know is whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will ask the Senate to take up a bill that was written closely with the Bush administration, or a more reasonable bill.


Tell Senator Reid you don’t want lawbreakers to be let off the hook. And you don’t want the government to seize your phone calls and emails without a warrant.

The bill Bush wants stops pending lawsuits against phone companies that illegally handed over the phone calls and emails of Americans. Stopping lawsuits that could uncover the truth about illegal spying lets him off the hook. And it gives no incentives for companies to follow the law in the future.

Senator Reid needs to hear from every American who wants him to stand up for our privacy and not let phone companies off the hook. You can take action by signing a petition to Senator Reid now.

http://action.aclu.org/reidpetition