House renews Patriot Act, but Senate could balk

Shame on the House. It's up to the Senate now.

The House easily approved renewing a modified USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, but with the bill facing a Senate filibuster, its Republican leader began talks with the White House on instead extending the current law unchanged for a year.
The House voted 251-174 to approve a House-Senate compromise that would modify and make permanent most of the Patriot Act’s 16 expiring provisions. But a group of Republican and Democratic senators is lobbying for more time to add additional safeguards on the law.
By reauthorizing the law, “we’re set to pass a whole new round of democracy rollbacks,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

So our civil liberties are in jeopardy unless the Senate finds some balls. So is there any chance for decency when it comes to prisoners of war and detainees? Well at least McCain was successful - I think!

President Bush reversed course on Thursday and accepted Sen. John McCain’s call for a law banning cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror.
Bush said the agreement will “make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad.”

But what about the private security firms, the black ops? Something tells me W found a loophole and it may be apparent in his statement.

So all looks good in the Senate -right?

However, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told NBC News’ Mike Viqueira on Thursday that he plans to oppose McCain’s bill.
He said he would try preventing the measure from reaching a House vote unless he got White House assurances that the new rules would still allow “the same high level of effective intelligence gathering” as under current procedures.

A proponent of torture? I guess we know how Hunter will vote when the Patriot Act is presented.