Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Rand Paul Heroic Seven Hour Filibuster

If this country becomes even more totalitarian, don't blame Rand Paul.

After the debate and amendments to the PATRIOT Act were shut down by a cloture vote in the Senate late Monday, on Tuesday Senator Rand Paul  carried out a seven-hour filibuster on the floor of the Senate to buy time to fight back against the proposed four-year extension of the PATRIOT Act. Majority Leader Harry Reid  and other leaders in the House and Senate still don't want to hear debate or consider amendments to the bill.

A combination of the Senate’s arcane rules and Sen. Rand Paul’s  insistence on voting on several controversial amendments may cause the Patriot Act to lapse at the end of the week (at least for awhile), reports The Hill.

According to The Hill, here is how Senator Reid is fighting back:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday evening tabled a motion to proceed to an extension of the Patriot Act in a complicated maneuver to circumvent Paul.

The purpose of the maneuver was to save time in the face of Paul’s staunch resistance to an extension of the homeland security law, which expires at 12:01 am Friday.

The tactic will save time by denying Paul votes on several amendments he was pushing. It will also allow the Senate to vote on ending his filibuster on Thursday instead of Friday, according to Senate aides.

However, if Paul insists on using all 30 hours of post-cloture debate he is entitled to under Senate rules, he could force the Patriot Act to lapse for a day.

Even if Paul waives the 30 hours of post-cloture debate, lawmakers will have to scramble to get the extension signed into law by Thursday because President Obama is in Europe.

Officials will have to fly a copy of the Patriot Act extension overseas if they are to prevent it a range of law-enforcement powers from expiring.

28 comments:

  1. Good for Rand Paul.


    First, he stands up to the Israel lobby.
    Now, he goes after the Patriot Act.

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  2. at what time Mr Paul speak on the floor i cannot find him on Cspan

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  3. A PR victory at least, but with no substance. Obama starts whole wars and then ignores the law and there is virtually no response, no outrage, from the opposition, or the press. Why would the temporary lapsing of an already unconstitutional tyranny have any real affect?

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  4. Like grapes in a press, the American people are being squeezed by their debts and this insidious Patriot Act. Four more years of oppression ahead. The elite win again. R. Paul is valiant but too late.

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  5. Thank you Rand Paul!

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  6. Didn't the regressives rightly take GWB to task over this horrific law and now the regressives support extending it? Its amazing how alike regressives and neocons really are.

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  7. Rand may not be the statesman his father is yet, but he's getting there fast!

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  8. Wow. He keeps impressing me.

    He's winning me over.

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  9. We are reminded of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, with James Stewart.

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  10. The substance is the "principle" of what he is doing.

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  11. Go get'em Rand Fu*k these treasonous sons a bitches.

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  12. If we, as a nation, do not support candidates like Rand and Ron Paul we will get exactly what we deserve. Slavery. Do not fall for neocons like Michelle Bachman. Hold DC accountable!

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  13. Sic 'em Rand! Put an end to the fascist state!

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  14. That totally misnamed Patriot Act should die the death that Occupier-in-Chief Obama said should happen to it when he was the continually-absent Senator. You can't blame the guy for being right one time.

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  15. Thank goodness for a true patriot exposing the fascism, tyranny, and Bolshevism of this Traitor Act! Stick it to those sorry ass politicians with their ever revolting ugly faces of sated constipation like this imbecile Harry Reid. He needs to know that all of us know about the crooked 'politics as usual' game he is playing. Kindly tell him to support a free debate with an open amendment process at 202-224-3542.

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  16. Remember what Benjamin Franklin once said that one's civil liberties and freedoms should never be sacrificed or compromised on behalf of some fictitious measure of safety. You can watch Star Wars and know the Republic turns into the Galactic Fascist Empire with the approval of emergency powers in the Senate . . . Only Old Yoda can smell the difference! I hope you people can tell the difference.

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  17. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

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  18. We need more men of conscience in Congress, rather than the mealy-mouthed men of indeterminate provenance, who would pimp their mothers for a buck.

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  19. I'd like to see Ron Paul have as his VP, his son.

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  20. Can someone please explain? It clearly seems that the majority of US citizens are AGAINST the Patriot Act, yet our elected officials still want to extend it....

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  21. Go Rand Paul!!!!!

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  22. Wow, watching this live, he's just blabbing about the amendments, loving every seconds of it. Rand and Ron, you guys are awesome. It's on C-span 2 by the way.

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  23. It was Boehner and not Reid that finally shut Rand down. Reid agreed to let him speak.

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  24. I believe there are only two people in Washington, D.C. who have ever read the U.S. Constitution in its entirety -- Rand Paul and his dad.

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  25. http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/7672-the-last-nail-by-ron-paul-with-documented-hyperlinks

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  26. Yes, isn't it interesting how so many people are against this and many other issues, and yet, our supposedly 'representitive' government, does what it feels like anyway.

    The government is our savior. Yeah right. Fear and lies. Fear and lies.

    The words of our government sound sweet on our ears, the reality of the words and what they really mean, are bilious and acrid. Poison of the mind.

    Release yourself from the mental bonds of servitude that we have been indoctrinated with.

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