Via Legislative Side Doors Bernie Sanders Won Modest Victories
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WASHINGTON As Democrats cobbled together a sweeping overhaul of the nations immigration law three years ago, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York was clear about one thing: His party could not suffer a single defection.
But one naysayer remained Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had opposed a similar effort in 2007 and once again did not like provisions in the new bill that he thought would displace American workers. And he had a price, a $1.5 billion youth jobs program.
Through wheeling and dealing, shaming and cajoling, Mr. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, got his wish, and his favored provision was grafted incongruously onto a tough-minded Republican border security amendment and paid for by higher visa fees for some foreign travelers.
The immigration bill, opposed by House Republicans, never became law. But the jobs program amendment was a signature Bernie Sanders move. He is a self-described democratic socialist who has spent a quarter-century in Congress working the side door, tacking on amendments to larger bills to succeed at the margins, generally focused on working-class Americans, income inequality and the environment.
But in his presidential campaign Mr. Sanders is trying to scale up those kinds of proposals as a national agenda, and there is little to draw from his small-ball legislative approach to suggest that he could succeed.
Birth Of The Usa Patriot Act
The first version of the Patriot Act was introduced into the House on October 2, 2001, as the Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, and was later passed by the House as the Uniting and Strengthening America Act on October 12. This was based on the afore-mentioned Anti-Terrorism Act, but had been changed after negotiations and work between Attorney General Ashcroft, Senators Leahy, Paul Sarbanes ” rel=”nofollow”> D-MD), Bob Graham, Trent Lott ” rel=”nofollow”> R-MS) and Orrin Hatch. It was introduced into the Senate as the USA Act of 2001 by Tom Daschle ” rel=”nofollow”> D-SD) where Senator Russ Feingold ” rel=”nofollow”> D-WI) proposed a number of amendments, none of which were passed. Feingold amended the provision relating to interception of computer trespasser communications, limited the roving wiretap authority under FISA and modified the provisions relating to access to business records under FISA. The USA Act was later vitiated and indefinitely postponed, because the Senate and House bills could not be reconciled in time.
Bernie Sanders Is The Only Leading Presidential Candidate Pledging To Vote Against The Patriot Act
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Voted No On Extending The Patriot Act’s Roving Wiretaps
Congressional Summary:
Proponent’s Argument for voting Yes:: America is safe today not because terrorists and spies have given up their goal to destroy our freedoms and our way of life. We are safe today because the men and women of our Armed Forces, our intelligence community, and our law enforcement agencies work every single day to protect us. And Congress must ensure that they are equipped with the resources they need to counteract continuing terrorist threats. On Feb. 28, three important provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act will expire. These provisions give investigators in national security cases the authority to conduct “roving” wiretaps, to seek certain business records, and to gather intelligence on lone terrorists who are not affiliated with a known terrorist group. The Patriot Act works. It has proved effective in preventing terrorist attacks and protecting Americans. To let these provisions expire would leave every American less safe.
On Nsa Spying Bernie Sanders Not Elizabeth Warren Is Pushing Hillary Clinton Left
The Left’s favorite foil to an often-moderate Hillary Clinton has remained quiet on NSA reform.
A liberal senator is keeping left of Hillary Clinton during Congress’ debate over the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, but it’s not Elizabeth Warren, the progressive hero and favorite of many in the movement to oppose Clinton in the primary.
Instead, as Congress considers pulling back the Patriot Act’s spy programs, it’s Vermont independent Bernie Sandersthe Senate progressive who’s actually running for presidentwho’s mounting a challenge.
Only Sanders has staked out a strong enough position to conceivably put pressure on Clinton. Warren has recently kept quiet about the programs, and Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland who is likely to enter the Democratic race later this month, has even less to say on the topic.
Sanders’ opposition to the NSA’s spying programs is clearhe’s called them “Orwellian” and invasivebut he hasn’t said whether he’ll vote for the version of the USA Freedom Act that has been put forward in this session of the Senate.
Sanders also has a history of progressive votes on the issue. He emphasized in a Timeop-ed published last week that he’s never voted for the Patriot Act, which authorized the NSA’s bulk-surveillance programs after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Last November, he voted for the USA Freedom Act, which would have ended the NSA’s bulk-data gathering.
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Voted Yes On Limiting Soldiers’ Deployment To 12 Months
Proponents support voting YES because:
Sen. HAGEL: The war in Iraq has pushed the US Army to the breaking point. When we deploy our military, we have an obligation to ensure that our troops are rested, ready, prepared, fully trained, and fully equipped. Today’s Armed Forces are being deployed repeatedly for increasing periods of time. This is quickly wearing down the troops and their families, impacting the mental and physical health of our troops. Further, these deployments are affecting the recruiting and retention rates of the military. For example, the Army reached only a little over 80% of its recruiting goal for June. This is the second month in a row that the Army has failed to recruit the number of new soldiers needed to fill the ranks. And this is with $1 billion in large cash bonus incentives.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
The Nsa Can Still Collect Your Internet Data: Proposed Patriot Act Amendment Fails By One Vote
- byTestsetMay 30, 2020
Artwork by Danielle Foti
The Senate voted May 13th to allow federal law enforcement agencies to continue monitoring civilians internet activities. A bipartisan-sponsored amendment would have halted surveillance of internet search history and browsing data first permitted by the notorious Patriot Act, passed during the anxiety-fraught days following the 9-11 terrorist acts. The amendment needed sixty votes to pass and only came in at 59, dealing a heavy blow to advocates for internet freedom. The vote is especially infuriating in light of the absence of four senators from the vote, at least one of whom, Bernie Sanders , would likely have voted in favor of it. Senator Lamar Alexander has been quarantining since a staffer tested positive for Covid-19, and representatives for Sanders and the other two absent Senators, Patty Murray and Ben Sasse , have not commented on their reasons for missing the vote. It really makes you wonder, have these people ever heard of Zoom?
The amendment was precipitated by the expiration of bulk surveillance measures first enacted by the Patriot Act in 2001 and later extended through December 2019 by the Freedom Act in 2015. Co-sponsored by Senators Steve Danes and Ron Wyden , the failed amendment would have reformed Section 215 of the Patriot Act by taking several measures:
Type As Metaphor
Some pro-privacy amendments to the Patriot Act did pass, including measures that will:
Tags:
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What About The Right To Privacy On The Internet
The right to privacy on the internet is something that Bernie is concerned about and a reason he is .
After the CEO of Facebook testified before congress about how the company uses the personal data it collects, Bernie said, The takeaway from the Mark Zuckerberg hearing gets to the heart of the issue: how do we use Facebook and the internet without seeing an invasion of our personal privacy? Thank you to Chris Hughes for recently speaking out about just why we need to break up Facebook.
Political And Economic Philosophy
Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist and an admirer of aspects of social democracy, as practiced in the Scandinavian countries. In an address on his political philosophy given at Georgetown University in November 2015, Sanders identified his conception of democratic socialism with Franklin D. Roosevelts proposal for a Second Bill of Rights, saying that democratic socialism means creating an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy, reforming the political system , recognizing health care and education as rights, protecting the environment, and creating a vibrant democracy based on the principle of one person, one vote. He explained that democratic socialism is not tied to or the abolition of capitalism, but, rather, describes a program of extensive social benefits, funded by broad-based taxes.
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Voted No On Cutting $221m In Benefits To Filipinos Who Served In Wwii Us Army
Opponents argument for voting NAY:Proponents argument for voting YEA:
Sen. CORNYN. The problem I have with this bill is that the US Treasury is not bottomless, and the funding that is being provided to create this new pension would literally be at the expense of US veterans. The $221 million that is addressed by Sen. Burr’s amendment would actually go back in to supplement benefits for US veterans. And while we appreciate and honor all of our allies who fought alongside of us in WWII, certainly that doesn’t mean we are going to grant pension benefits to all of our allies, the British or the Australians. Vote for the Burr Amendment because certainly our American veterans should be our priority.
Title Viii: Terrorism Criminal Law
Title VIII alters the definitions of terrorism and establishes or re-defines rules with which to deal with it. It redefined the term “domestic terrorism” to broadly include mass destruction as well as assassination or kidnapping as a terrorist activity. The definition also encompasses activities that are “dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State” and are intended to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population,” “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion,” or are undertaken “to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping” while in the jurisdiction of the United States.Terrorism is also included in the definition of racketeering.Terms relating to cyber-terrorism are also redefined, including the term “protected computer,” “damage,” “conviction,” “person,” and “loss.”
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Voted Against Closing Gitmo 201: Supports Closing It
In 2009 Bernie voted against the proposals theObama administration suggested for closing the prison. The bill was defeated with strong bipartisan support . Given Bernie’s human rights concerns regarding the facility, he likely voted against it because theplans did not address the human rights violations–including being held indefinitely without trial–that he and so many other Americans are most concerned about with regards to Guant namo.
Rid Our Planet Of This Barbarous Organization Called Isis
SANDERS: Together, leading the world, this country will rid our planet of this barbarous organization called ISIS.
O’MALLEY: ISIS, make no mistake about it, is an evil in this world.
Q :Was ISIS underestimated? In 2014, the president referred to ISIS as the “J.V.”
CLINTON: ISIS has developed . I think that there are many other reasons why it has in addition to what happened in the region, butI don’t think that the United States has the bulk of the responsibility. I really put that on Assad and on the Iraqis and on the region itself.
SANDERS: She said the bulk of the responsibility is not ours.Well, in fact, I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq, something that I strongly opposed, has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of al-Qaeda and to ISIS.
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Televised Forums And Podcast Appearances
On April 6, Sanders participated in a Fox News town hall which attracted more than 2.55 million viewers, with Fox seeing an increase of total viewers by 24 percent and 40 percent among people aged 25 to 54, surpassing the ratings of all prior 2020 Democratic presidential candidate town halls. On April 24, he participated in the She the People forum at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, and on April 22, he participated in a town hall meeting sponsored by CNN.
In June, Sanders delivered remarks at the California Democratic Party Convention in San Francisco. During July, Sanders participated in the presidential forum of the National Education Association in Honolulu, Hawaii, a town hall in Las Vegas, Nevada, and at a The Washington Post public interview event with Robert Costa, drawing laughter from the audience when he asked if Bank of America was really sponsoring his appearance, in reference to the banks logo being behind the pair. In August, Sanders delivered remarks at a presidential forum in Las Vegas as news broke of the 2019 El Paso shooting.
On August 6, Sanders appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience. Newsweek commented on his appearance, saying that while some praised Joe Rogan for hosting a pragmatic discussion others seemed rather stunned by Sanderss decision to appear on the show at all. Following the podcast, Rogan became a top-trending topic on .
Democrats Wrestle With A Big Question: What Are Reparations
The new DNC rules state that a candidate must be a bona fide Democrat whose record of public service, accomplishment, public writings, and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrates that the candidate is faithful to the interests, welfare, and success of the Democratic Party of the United States who subscribes to the substance, intent, and principles of the Charter and the Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States, and who will participate in the Convention in good faith.
And candidates must affirm in writing to the DNC chairman that they are a Democrat are a member of the Democratic Party will accept the Democratic nomination and will run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party.
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Why Is This An Issue How Is Net Neutrality In Danger
Congress introduced several industry-backed bills regarding copyright infringement and intellectual property rights: Counterfeits Act , Protect IP Act , theAnti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement . The bills were supported by entertainment and publishing groups, but were opposed by public advocacy groups like theElectronic Frontier Foundation ,the Wikimedia Foundation, andnumerous tech companies.
Background: A Cycle Of Overreach And Reform
The immediate purpose of the bill is to reauthorize three provisions of FISA that were created or amended by the USA Patriot Act following the 9/11 attacks. The best known of these is Section 215, which allows the government to get an order from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain any tangible thing, as long as it can show that the thing is relevant to a foreign intelligence or international terrorism investigation. This is an extraordinarily low standard that enables the government to collect Americans personal information even if they are not suspected of any wrongdoing.
In 2013, as a result of Edward Snowdens disclosures, the public learned that the NSA had secretly been using Section 215 to collect Americans phone records in bulk. After a federal appeals court found the program to be illegal, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which sought to prohibit bulk collection under Section 215 and other FISA authorities. But Congress also created a scaled-down version of the phone records program, under which the NSA could collect the phone records not just of suspected terrorists, but anyone who had called or been called by them.
In the Senate, however, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle insisted on the opportunity to offer amendments, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced to accede to this request. Senators voted this week on three amendments to bolster privacy protections in the bill, and in two cases, the results were surprising.
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Bernie Sanders Reluctantly Admits He Agrees With Rand Paul On Nsa Surveillance
Culture and National Reporter, HuffPost
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul may be on opposite sides of the aisle, but they do see eye to eye on the issue of government surveillance.
In an interview with Katie Couric for Yahoo News on Monday, Sanders said the USA Freedom Act does not go far enough in reining in the governments spying programs. When pressed by Couric, who suggested that he is in lockstep with Paul, Sanders reluctantly admitted they are on the same side of this issue.
I wouldnt say in lockstep, but we both have the same concerns, he said.
Sanders told Couric he plans to vote against the USA Freedom Act, which orders the government to transition to a system in which it must ask phone companies for phone call records, and reforms the court that deals with government surveillance. But the bill would still renew the surveillance programs authorized by the Patriot Act, which Sanders and Paul both oppose.
It doesnt go far enough in protecting our privacy rights, Sanders said. There are still too many opportunities for the government to be tallying and collecting information on innocent people. There are other ways for the government to get information.
Like Sanders, Paul also opposes the bill. In a procedural move, Paul held up debate on the bill, allowing for the data collection programs to expire, and buying lawmakers more time to consider more reforms.
