Political Skullduggery

The Senate Democrats (joined by a few Republicans) who refused to roll over and make permanent the USA PATRIOT Act are being pressured to drop their objections to some of the worst privacy abuses inherent in the current law.

To their credit, the Democrats are not yielding to the pressure.

This means that we are likely to see additional extension(s) of the original legislation while the arm-twisting can continue.

The negotiations over modifying the PATRIOT Act are being conducted under the auspices of House/Senate bargaining to bring both chambers' language together so that a workable bill can be passed.

The problem is being blamed on the House side:

The chief House negotiator -- Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) -- has said his chamber is finished with talks, dimming hopes for a breakthrough...

"I can tell you, after talking to Chairman Sensenbrenner, that the House feels that they've gone as far as they can go on compromises on the act," (Sen. Arlen) Specter told colleagues. "And I think the reality may be that we're looking at either the current act extended [beyond Feb. 3], or the conference report," which continues to draw opposition from most Senate Democrats and four Republicans...

The main disagreements center on provisions that allow FBI agents to obtain records on terrorism suspects, who have very limited options for challenging such searches. Specter has said the law allows adequate "judicial review" of proposed searches. But Sununu (one of the dissidents) and his allies say the law makes it virtually impossible for targeted people to prevail, even if they have no ties to terrorism.