Congress Renews Patriot Act…

So, I’m back from my vacation (by the way, I took a vacation in case you were wondering) and I noticed this little item:
Congress Renews Patriot Act; Bush to Sign – Yahoo! News
If you read the first paragraph it says:

The House renewed the USA Patriot Act in a cliffhanger vote Tuesday night, extending a centerpiece of the war on terrorism at President Bush’s urging after months of political combat over the balance between privacy rights and the pursuit of potential terrorists.

A cliffhanger vote, huh?
Yeah…here’s how that looked:

The vote was 280-138, just two more than needed under special rules that required a two-thirds majority. The close vote caught senior Republican aides in both chambers by surprise.

They got two more votes than they needed—and that’s the cliffhanger? Let me tell you something folks, there’s NO cliffhanger here. No drama. No suspense. They needed a 2/3 majority and they got two EXTRA votes. The AP is making it sound like it barely passed.
People were caught by surprise by this vote? Not likely. The compromise package was approved 89-10 in the Senate last week and it would have come to a vote in the house if there was that big of a doubt. Yes, certain provisions were set to expire on March 10, but they could have set another extension if they’d really needed it.
Look, despite all the whining that the Libs do about the Patriot Act, it does allow our law enforcement agencies to do a more effective job in preventing terror attacks. It’s that simple. Yes, there were provisions that gave some people pause, but this renewed Patriot Act has more restictions and protections of civil liberties.
Yes…even the library thing for all of you book readers.
It passed and the Libs will continue to whine and say it barely passed, even though it got the 2/3 majority necessary to remain the law of the land.
Two-thirds. Hardly a cliffhanger, friends.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com