Feingold, Michels take off gloves over Patriot Act

Republican Tim Michels accused U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of repeatedly turning his back on homeland security Friday night in the first debate between the two, singling out the incumbent’s vote against the Patriot Act that expanded police powers to fight terrorism. … Feingold said he voted against the bill after looking at it closely and seeing that allowed the government to monitor computer use, look at library records and get into people’s homes without just cause.

The Capital Times

October 2, 2004 by Uncategorized 3

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3 Responses

  1. Daniel says:
    October 2, 2004 at 10:22 pm

    Senator Feingold most courageous senator
    I’m happy to hear that Sen. Feingold strongly defended his vote against the PATRIOT Act. Unlike most of his fellow senators, he studied the bill closely — hard to do in the rush and confused atmosphere after 9/11.

    Saying a vote against USAPA was a vote against homeland security is irrational. In October 2001, we SIMPLY DID NOT KNOW what needed fixing. The earliest reports on intelligence failures, etc did not come out till 2002.

    Also, it seems like many of the actual problems that helped lead to 9/11 are still with us, such as aviation security and uncoordinated terrorist watch lists.

    In addition, THREE YEARS after 9/11, federal, state, and local agencies still don’t have interoperable radios, something that could have saved hundreds of lives on 9/11. We do not even have a plan to bring that about. This WILL cost us more lives in the next attack.

    Plus, if Rep. Michels would browse the GAO pages on Terrorism and Homeland Security, he would see that border and maritime security problems unaddressed by the PATRIOT Act are plentiful.

    Rather than playing the “Patriot” card, Rep. Michels should carefully study the issues and advocate realistic remedies based on real problems.

    I wished I lived in WI should I could vote for Sen. Feingold. We need more people of principle and integrity like him.

    I also wanted to note that the following communities in Wisconsin passed anti-USAPA resolutions: Douglas City, Eau Claire, Madison and Milwaukee (source http://www.bordc.org). As far as I know, no community has passed a resolution favoring USAPA or calling for it’s immediate expansion, as called for in HR 10.

    Reply
  2. GregS* says:
    October 3, 2004 at 7:29 am

    Re:Senator Feingold most courageous senator
    “…get into people’s homes without just cause.”

    Because as everyone knows being investigated for terrorist activities is not considered just cause.

    “Saying a vote against USAPA was a vote against homeland security is irrational. In October 2001, we SIMPLY DID NOT KNOW what needed fixing. The earliest reports on intelligence failures, etc did not come out till 2002.”

    The way I understood it various parts of the Patriot Act had been sitting on the shelf pre-9/11 wasting away for fear of offending someone. War caused a change in perspective.

    Aviation security? Border and Maritime security? Oddly enough they all amount to about the same thing which is racial profiling. How does Feingold feel about that? I’m guessing he’s against it.

    Radios? That’s defensive. Different discussion altogether, important but different. (Oddly enough I just saw a news report about cell phone towers interferring with emergency signals so possibly a complicated problem.)

    People rarely feel the need to give verbal support to the government when they do something right. Probably has something to do with not wanting it to go to their heads. Simply because communities don’t pass resolutions supporting the PA is not a legitimate arguement against it.

    Reply
  3. GregS* says:
    October 3, 2004 at 7:32 am

    whoops
    2 “oddly enough”‘s oddly enough. This late-night internet at home is going to be bad.

    Reply

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