In the unexpectedly drawn-out reauthorization of the Patriot Act in February of 2011 there is an unusual opportunity to study the dynamics of legislative decision-making across time, not just one cross-sectional snapshot. On February 8, House Speaker John Boehner wrangled a vote on H.R. 514 to reauthorize the Patriot Act, suspending the normal House rules [...]

Date of Tea Party Town Hall media event in Washington, DC organized by Tea Party Express: February 8, 2011 Date of vote on H.R. 514, a bill to reauthorize provisions of the Patriot Act: February 8, 2011 Number of “tweets” published on Twitter by Tea Party Express on February 8, 2011: 22 Number these tweets [...]

The Tea Party movement says it is all about defending the Constitution of the United States. But the Tea Party Express twitter feed has nothing posted about the Patriot Act reauthorization that’s going on quietly but quickly in Congress starting today. If you have an account and can log into the Tea Party Nation website’s [...]

“This lack of transparency speaks to a larger problem where the Speaker’s office has the capacity to unilaterally draft a bill and send it straight through to the Rules Committee. Woodrow Wilson once said that ‘Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, while Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.’ If Wilson [...]

“I think there’s probably a stronger sense that the civil liberties concerns are less likely to be triggered by Obama administration activities than the Bush administration activities.” – Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, explaining why Senate Democrats passed reauthorization of the Patriot Act. A single Senator’s objection is all that is required to force a [...]

Paul Hodes has some explaining to do. Hearing that a bill to reauthorize the Patriot Act was being prepared for passage in the House of Representatives, a constituent of the New Hampshire Democrat wrote to him: I note with considerable alarm that, in spite of the supposed “shutdown” of the nation’s capital due to snowfall, [...]

Representative Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, took to the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday to explain why he would not comply with requests to vote for reauthorization of the Patriot Act without reform: Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this motion to concur in the [...]

In the last election cycle of 2008, the Democratic Party issued its platform entitled “Renewing America’s Promise. In that platform, the Democrats made the following pledge: Our Constitution is not a nuisance. It is the foundation of our democracy. It makes freedom and self-governance possible, and helps to protect our security. The Democratic Party will [...]