Quote:

Secret vote on Patriot Act angers some conservatives

WASHINGTON - A closed-door vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee to expand law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership.

The conservative leaders, who have formed a coalition with critics on the left, including the American Civil Liberties Union, vowed to press their concerns in public statements, rallies and advertising.
...
"It is a slap in the face to the Constitution," said Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, who leads a bipartisan coalition of groups calling for limits on the act, which was passed six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In a separate interview, the head of the American Conservative Union, David Keene, said he was upset that the administration appeared to be encouraging reauthorization of the expiring Patriot Act provisions through the more-secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, despite pledges of openness.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/32217...


Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else. --Will Rogers "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." - George W. Bush I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would .. try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile. - Condoleeza Rice Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor To comfort the powerless and make the powerful uncomfortable.