FISA Bill Passes, Lefties Heads Explode

The FISA bill, including telecom immunity, has passed both houses of Congress and will become law. Included in the "aye" votes was one Obamessiah, and that has the lefties in a lather:

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that will overhaul rules on terrorist surveillance while giving the Bush administration a win it had sought for months: legal immunity for telecommunications companies that helped in its secret eavesdropping program.

The Senate approved the changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on a 69-28 vote.

The action sends the bill the president's desk. The House approved the measure last month.

President Bush said he will sign the bill "soon," and praised lawmakers for their work in bringing the bill to his desk.

"This legislation is critical to America's safety. It is long overdue. ... I will soon sign this bill into law," Bush told reporters gathered at the White House Rose Garden. Officials indicated afterward that the president could sign it as soon as Thursday or Friday.

"This ill will help our intelligence professionals learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning," Bush said.

He also said the bill will protect the companies that assist the government in eavesdropping from past and future lawsuits, and it will "uphold our most solemn obligations as officials of the federal government to protect the American people."

Bush also pointed to the bipartisan nature of the bill.

"This legislation shows that even in an election year, we can come together and get important pieces of legislation passed," he added.

Earlier Wednesday, senators affirmed their intention to follow through on a promise to protect telecoms by turning back three amendments that would have altered the bill.

The long fight on Capitol Hill — lasting nearly a year — has centered on one question: whether to shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on American phone and computer lines after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, without the permission or knowledge of a secret court created by FISA.

The lawsuits allege that the White House and the companies violated U.S. law by going around the FISA court to start the wiretaps. The court was created 30 years ago to prevent the government from abusing its surveillance powers for political purposes, as was done in the Vietnam War and Watergate eras. The court is meant to approve all wiretaps placed inside the U.S. for intelligence-gathering purposes. The law has been interpreted to include international e-mail records stored on servers inside the U.S.

"This president broke the law," said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis.

Fox reported that lefties were bombarding the official Obama website demanding that he either vote no or send their campaign donations back. Obama was against telecom immmunity before he was for it.