Jon Walker writes of the PATRIOT Act:
The often praised “bipartisanship” is rarely ever the product of both parties coming together around what the people want, and almost always about using each other as cover to avoid electoral consequences for voting in opposition to the will of the electorate.
Well that’s true sometimes. But sometimes the electorate is also wrong, so its better to argue policy on the merits than just relying on popularity. For example, according to a recent Pew poll, a plurality support the PATRIOT Act:
Democrats, naturally, now that a Democrat is in power, have grown more supportive of the PATRIOT Act, because civil liberties are only important when the other guy is in power:
If people are expecting the PATRIOT Act to be repealed every time expiring powers come up for a vote, they’re bound to be disappointed. Presidents love it, Republicans are mostly fans, and Democrats are far less skeptical when one of their own is in the Oval Office. The question now is really not whether or not the provisions will be reauthorized, but whether or not the reforms and oversight provisions proposed by Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Rand Paul will be adopted. Pew didn’t poll whether or not Americans would support stricter oversight of PATRIOT Act powers, but it’s really the more relevant question to ask.
