Friday, July 26, 2013

Massie, Yarmuth Vote to Defund NSA Spying on Americans' Phone Calls

This is one of those rare grounds where liberals and (supposed) libertarians can meet.  But don't think Northern Kentucky's teabagger Massie's distaste for the NSA means he opposes equally intrusive spying by corporations, or government intrusion into your bedroom or your uterus.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:

Rep. Justin Amash's amendment to defund the NSA's bulk collection of domestic telephone records failed in the House this afternoon. That's probably not too surprising given the full court press coming from the president, the leadership of both parties, and the intelligence community. But take a look at the vote count. When was the last time we saw something so genuinely bipartisan? In the end, 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats voted in favor, and the leaders of both parties—John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer—all joined with President Obama to oppose the amendment and keep the NSA program in place. Despite disagreements at the margin, support for the fundamental structure of the modern national security state truly spans both parties.

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