Congress Ready to Give in on Telecom Immunity

Backroom deals, compromises, giving up on the Constitution again, Congress prepares to sell us all down the river-- giving up our rights to privacy and giving big telecom and the Bush administration everything they want with no repercussions for breaking the law.

The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation," Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) said in a statement Thursday, adding, "The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President's illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home.

(Russ is a hero!)

There are approximately forty lawsuits pending against the telecoms, all of which would probably be dismissed if the current bill becomes law. Critics of the retroactive immunity provision say that letting the telecoms off the hook for lawbreaking would be irresponsible because the extent of potential lawbreaking is not yet known.-Matt Renner from truthout.org

Read all about this latest congressional attack on We the People.