"But, this FISA bill was totally unnecessary.  The original legislation from the mid 70's has been constantly revised to keep pace with technological advances.  It also allowed surveillance without a warrant for 72 hours while a warrant was obtained.  The government had three days of warrantless eavesdropping to get a warrant.  Three days is plenty of time for a competent, well-organized, efficient department or agency to acquire the necessary warrant(s). 

"But as a NYTimes editorial wrote: "The real reason this bill exists is because Mr. Bush decided after 9/11 that he was above the law. When The Times disclosed his warrantless eavesdropping, Mr. Bush demanded that Congress legalize it after the fact."

So, Reid joins with Senate Minority Leader Mitch "lack of integrity" McConnell to ram through the terrible bailout bill that gives $700 billion to the Wall Street perpetrators of this catastrophe aided and abetted by McConnell's Republican Party and its titular head, Dubya Bush and his regime, and the American people get squat and are on the hook for almost a trillion dollars.  What's wrong with this picture?

As McClatchy Newspapers reports: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led the battle Wednesday to pass a $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, in which taxpayers would buy the failing financial sector's toxic assets.

"But only three years ago, McConnell, R-Ky., stood in the same chamber and argued that America's free-market economy requires people to clean up their own financial messes rather than pass them along to others.

"After he pushed a tougher bankruptcy law through Congress, making it harder for citizens to escape debt, McConnell said the law "ushers in a new emphasis on personal responsibility."

"This week, critics of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act of 2005 said recent studies suggest that it contributed to the fiscal crisis by encouraging more Americans to walk away from their homes and accept foreclosure rather than try to rebuild their lives under bankruptcy protection.

"Either way, they said, it's curious that McConnell — who has taken more than $4.3 million in campaign money from the financial sector — isn't talking about personal responsibility now.

" 'Clearly, we have two sets of rules: one for individuals who run into hard times and one for corporations that practice irresponsible lending,' said Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America.

"Senate Republicans, for whom McConnell then was majority whip, defeated Democratic amendments that would have exempted members of the military, single mothers, long-term caregivers and identity-theft victims.

"U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joe Lee of Lexington, one of the nation's foremost experts on the bankruptcy code, on Wednesday said the pre-2005 law already was tough on those who did not pay their bills.

"But the problem wasn't immoral debtors, he said; it was a credit card industry that promoted high-interest loans to people who obviously could not handle so much debt. The industry then pressured Congress to help it collect, he said.

" 'So I can understand why this bailout sticks in the craw of so many Americans,' said Plunkett [ Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America], whose group considers the bailout a necessary evil. 'Not only are the major financial corporations that created this mess going to receive a great deal of public aid, but struggling homeowners will receive little to no assistance.'

The Republican Party principle of government of, by, and for the wealthy and corporations wins again with the assistance of the Wussacrats and the losers are the American people, again, while the Senate makes a mockery of government of, by, and for the people.