Off the Trail, and on the Warpath

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Sat., Jan 5, 2008
Filed under: Congressional Oversight

Chris Dodd said last night he’s done with presidential politics, for now. But he’s just getting started on stopping the Dems from compromising away Americans’ civil liberties.

By Brian Beutler
The Media Consortium

It turns out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was half right. After a poor showing in Iowa last night, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., dropped his bid to be the Democratic nominee for president–and, as such, will not be captive to the pander-inducing whims of electoral politics when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is reconsidered later this month. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be back on the floor of the Senate blocking any FISA bill that contains an immunity provision for the telecommunications industry. Here’s what he said in his concession letter:

“The fight to restore the Constitution and stop retroactive immunity does not end with my Presidential campaign. FISA will come back in a few weeks and my pledge to filibuster ANY bill that includes retroactive immunity remains operative.

You’ve been an invaluable ally in the battle, and I’ll need you to stick by my side despite tonight’s caucus results.”

So he’s on record–the filibuster will continue.

Incidentally, Dodd has actually received more money from telecom companies than has Reid, but both receive far less than the top two recipients–Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Oh. And the fourth largest Senate recipient of telecom money? Intelligence Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller.