Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
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...that stand up for civil rights even when the head of their party want to run roughshod over them.
The Wyden Holdup: A Liberal's Firm Stand : Roll Call PolicySen. Ron Wyden insists he doesnt have a grudge against fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California. What he does have, though, is a hold on her two legislative priorities of the lame-duck session and he has, in fact, placed a hold on every major bill coming out of her Intelligence Committee in the past two years.
Wydens moves to block the two latest bills a spy agency reauthorization measure (S 3454) aimed at cracking down on leaks and an extension of expiring surveillance provisions from a 2008 law are the newest demonstrations of how the Oregon Democrat has become the Senates hardest line to cross on civil liberties issues in the national security arena.
Wyden said he considers Feinstein a friend and that he has more in common with her than not as a member of her committee. And his stances arent about liberal versus conservative, he insisted, pointing to a record of working with Republicans on a variety of topics from taxes to health care. Indeed, the update of the 2008 surveillance law (S 3276) is even an Obama administration priority.
I always start with the proposition that you try to find common ground, he said. Sometimes you have to stand alone. And often, when you stand alone on day one, as the debate evolves, you see how things as you make your case in effect come around your way, both in terms of policy and politics.