935 Iraq Falsehoods

FISA Watch

Pamela Hess writes for the Associated Press: "Senate Republicans blocked Majority Leader Harry Reid's attempt Tuesday to extend the life of a surveillance law due to expire Feb. 1, raising the stakes for a vote expected later this week on a new version of the law."

Massimo Calabresi writes for Time that last summer, "[a]fter initially trying to block the bill, which expanded the government's ability to track suspect individuals, Democrats caved. . . .

"Democrats [now] find themselves in the same corner they were in last summer: on the one hand their base demands they block expanded domestic spying powers for the Bush Administration; on the other, they can't risk looking soft on terrorism, especially nine months before national elections. . . .

"The bitterest point of contention for Democrats will be the same question that divided them last summer: immunity for telecom companies that complied with Bush Administration requests for access to American phone and e-mail traffic without warrants after 9/11. After news of the Bush program broke, civil liberties groups brought cases against the companies, and since then the telecoms have in some cases refused to help the U.S. intelligence community further. Bush has said he will veto any bill that doesn't grant the telecoms immunity. The Democrats are split on the issue. Smart money bets the Democrats will cave again -- the only question is how much they fight before doing so. "

Glenn Greenwald blogs for Salon: "Here we have a perfect expression of the most self-destructive Democratic disease which they seem unable to cure. More than anything, they fear looking 'weak.' To avoid this, they 'cave' and surrender and capitulate and stand for nothing."

The White House yesterday issued a " Fact Sheet" asserting: "Liability Protection Is Critical To The Ongoing Effort To Protect The Nation From Another Catastrophic Attack. . . .

"Companies should not be held responsible for verifying the government's determination that requested assistance was necessary and lawful -- and such an impossible requirement would hurt our ability to keep the Nation safe."

So companies should just do whatever the government tells them to do -- even if they have reason to think it's illegal? Apparently. Or, as the White House put it: "Failing to provide such protection sends an unfortunate message to every private party that may in the future consider whether to help the Nation."

Stimulus Watch

Peter Baker and Jonathan Weisman write in The Washington Post: "President Bush and congressional leaders moved closer to agreeing on a compromise economic rescue package yesterday, fending off fresh protests from both the right and the left as they rushed to respond to a cascading series of economic troubles and to head off a potential recession. . . .

"In an important concession to Democrats, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. signaled that he is open to including breaks even for those who pay little to no income taxes. . . .

"[O]fficials said they were close to the framework of a roughly $145 billion plan. About two-thirds of the money would go for tax breaks for individuals, plus extended unemployment and food stamp benefits, while the other third would be for business tax breaks. Individuals would get rebates of as much as $800, and married couples as much as $1,600. . . .

"Conservatives scorned one-time tax rebates to individuals as ineffective pandering and called for permanent breaks aimed at stoking investment. Liberals said Bush's proposed package already tilts toward the wealthy and pushed instead for a broad investment in public works."