*Less then a month after making a show of reading the Constitution into the Congressional record........
House GOP Rejects Requirement That PATRIOT Act Surveillance Be Conducted in Compliance With Constitution <http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/15-6> Unfortunately there is more in this vein, done in our name every month, by law makers we've elected. Somehow they seem to be exempt from accountability to those that vote. There is a link at the bottom to subscribe to get your own issue each day, I only forward these irregularly. Scott * *RISING FOOD PRICES INCREASING POVERTY * ** *"Rising global food prices have pushed an estimated 44 million more people into extreme poverty in developing countries over the past eight months," begins a piece in British news <http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71E0I120110215> this morning. It appears the effects of global warming are becoming more severe, destroying crops with floods, droughts and brutal storms all over the world, as our corrupt government fiddles on behalf of the ruling Forces of Greed <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/FOG.htm>. * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *SINGLE PAYER IS BACK * ** *We got a message from Dr. Margaret Flowers through Facebook this morning about a bill promoting single-payer health care <http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/02/15-4>, "The bill has been reintroduced and co-sponsors are being sought for it. This is a great time for people to contact their member of Congress and ask them to sign on. People can find out what local single payer groups exist in their area by going to pnhp.org <http://www.pnhp.org/> and clicking on 'state groups' or by going to healthcare-now.org <http://www.healthcare-now.org/> and clicking on 'contact.' This is a great time to organize a truth hearing - invite your member of Congress and have constituents tell their stories about health care. Members of Congress need to hear that the people want health care reform - single payer/improved Medicare for all."* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *EGYPT STARTED ON A PATH TOWARD CHANGE * ** *Egypt's ruling military junta has authorized a panel to rewrite the Constitution <http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110215/ts_afp/egyptpoliticsunrest_20110215182941> to "guarantee democracy." Since this is the same bunch of generals who've been in charge in Egypt for decades, merely abandoning one of their own, General Mubarak, we are not holding our breath,**at /LUV News/**, for a perfect Egyptian republic. Jim Lobe has a piece <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54492> this morning asking if what we just witnessed in Egypt was a revolution or a coup. We wish for the Egyptians a better system than ours, in which transnational corporations, with, as Jefferson put it, no loyalty to so much as the spot on which they stand, rent the most corrupt politicians they can find. * ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **If one only looked at information from corporate media, one might think President Obama and Congressional Republicans were in opposite political camps in hatred of each other. But Obama regularly meets with Republicans and works closely with them. They nearly all voted for his defense increases, extensions of tax cuts for the wealthy, expansion of wars, and of course, the extension of the Patriot Act, as they work together to sell out the American people. The difference is that Republicans don't appear to be concerned about the rhetoric or pretense, with the mass media covering up their extreme hypocrisy --Jack ** *House GOP Rejects Requirement That PATRIOT Act Surveillances Be Conducted in Compliance With Constitution <http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/15-6> * * * *by John Nichols* ** *Less than a month after making a show of reading the U.S. Constitution into the Congressional Record, the leaders of the Republican-controlled U.S. House engineered a vote to extend the surveillance authorities that both the Bush and Obama administrations have used to conduct "roving surveillance" of communications, to collect and examine business records and to target individuals who are not tied to terrorist groups for surveillance. While most Democrats opposed the extension of the surveillance authorities -- rejecting aggressive lobbying by the Obama administration and its allies in the House GOP leadership -- overwhelming Republican support won approval of the legislation on a275-144 vote <http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll036.xml>. Thus, the supposedly Constitution-obsessed House has endorsed a measure that is widely seen -- not just by Democrats and progressives but by Republicans and conservatives -- as a constant threat to privacy protections outlined in the document's 4th Amendment. * *As Michelle Richardson, the legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union <http://www.aclu.org/>, noted Monday night: "It has been nearly a decade since the Patriot Act was passed and our lawmakers still refuse to make any meaningful changes to this reactionary law. The right to privacy from government is a cornerstone of our country's foundation and Americans must be free from the kind of unwarranted government surveillance that the Patriot Act allows. If Congress cannot take the time to insert the much needed privacy safeguards the Patriot Act needs, it should allow these provisions to expire."* *The 275 votes for extending the surveillance authorities came from 210 Republicans and 65 Democrats. * *The 144 votes against extending the authorities came from 127 Democrats (including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Michigan's John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee) and 27 Republicans.* *The left-right coalition that prevented passage of the extensions last week <http://www.thenation.com/blog/158394/left-right-coalition-house-blocks-obamas-move-extend-patriot-act> held Monday, with "no" votes coming from across a spectrum that extended from Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich to Texas Republican Ron Paul held on the final vote. But, because Speaker John Boehner and his allies in the GOP leadership managed this vote so that a two-thirds majority was no longer required, it has now passed the House and will go to the Senate for consideration on a timeline that seeks to get the process finished before the surveillance authorities expire February 28.* *The determination of the House Republicans to deliver for President Obama on what is seen as a national security issue was somewhat remarkable. * *More remarkable was the House vote on a motion offered by the Democrats <http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/144015-house-approves-patriot-act-surveillance-extension-sends-bill-to-senate>, which sought to recommit the bill with instructions to add language ensuring that surveillances would only be conducted in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.* *That motion lost ona 186-234 vote <http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll035.xml>.* *All 234 "no" votes came from Republicans, including two dozen members who minutes later would vote against extension of the surveillance authorities.* *The 186 "yes" votes came from 184 Democrats and 2 Republicans -- Ron Paul and South Carolina Congressman Walter Jones Jr., a pair of stalwart civil libertarians who refused to put partisanship ahead of the rule of law.* *The message from the Republicans, aside from Paul and Jones, was clear enough: For all their talk about how much they revere the Constitution, they're cool with violations of the 4th Amendment.* *Copyright © 2011 The Nation* <http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/15-6> */John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and//associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin//. A co-founder of the media reform organization Free Press, Nichols is is co-author with Robert W. McChesney of The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568586051?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1568586051> and Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy <http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595581294?tag=commondreams-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1595581294&adid=164SE8CDEBED7N8H9TCK&;>./*/*Nichols is also author of Dick: The Man Who is President <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565848403?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1565848403> and The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism. <http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595581405?tag=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>* / ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *If you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know* ** *To join the Liberty Underground news service email [email protected] "join" for a subject* ** *You may also join our talk group athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/ <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/>if you would like to participate* ** *email: [email protected]* ** *Tell your friends about /LUV News/ because some people just don't get it* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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