Patriot Act Blocked
The Senate voted 52-47 to break the filibuster on the renewal of the Patriot Act, shy of the sixty needed. But this isn’t over yet. Majority Leader and general crackpot Dr. Bill Frist (a medical doctor who believes that AIDS can be transmitted through tears and sweat) voted with the Democrats.
This may seem like an unexpected tip of the hat to Democrats, but the reality is that Senate rules allow only “the prevailing side to move for reconsideration of the vote”. (Sec. 18-8) Thus, the majority leader often will change his vote when he expects to lose in order to buy time to drum up more support.
So if you have a Democratic Senator whom will often cave under Republican pressure (Clinton and Schumer, I’m looking at you…) contact them and try to make sure they hold their ground.
Also be aware that two Democrats voted to end the filibuster and let the Republicans have their way: Senator Johnson of South Dakota and Senator Nelson of Nebraska.
But all things considered, I must say that it’s exciting to see the Democrats finally growing some backbone.