The good news: House reconsiders, kills Patriot Act provision

Excellent news indeed. Sanders, the Independent rep from Vermont who authored the amendment, had this to say:

"I think that today's vote will tell the Senate and the House that, wait a second, the American people want some thoughtful re-examination of the USA Patriot Act."

Absolutely. The legislature is the place for reasoned, thoughtful analysis and debate - and that's where the nation needs to hear how Patriot Act provisions are being abused already, by going after people with no connection to terrorism. I applaud the 38 Republicans who listened to their constituents and weren't swayed by the Executive branch's wailings.

"The Patriot Act is an important piece of legislation," Bush told Republican lawmakers at a fundraising dinner. "It gives those folks who are on the front line of fighting terror the same tools - many of the same tools that are used to track down drug kingpins or tax cheats."

Once again, in this situation it should be just as feasible to suggest that the government has too much power rather than too little, and that a viable solution to the "problem" (if it even exists as it's being alleged by the Executive) could just as well be a reduction of government power rather than the knee-jerk increase that seems to come to politicians' minds first. I'm still trying to find a roll call vote on it to see how my Rep. voted - I suspect he voted with most of the other Republicans given his record and committee membership, but if he didn't I'll send him a nice letter of appreciation.

UPDATE: Yep, he voted the party line. Bummer.