Let me break down the issue to its most basic components: The Patriot Act is a betrayal of the great American tradition of liberty because it encourages the government to spy on the legal, personal activities of Americans who have not broken the law. The Bush Administration is using that power to grab information out of commercial and public databases and assemble them into a single giant computer database through which the private affairs of every American citizen can be tracked by government official.
Is that not simple enough of a reason to oppose the Patriot Act? Well then, let me break it down into right wing language for you: The Patriot Act is morally wrong.
Yet, yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to approve the authorization of the most dangerous aspects of the Patriot Act.
Who could possibly vote for such plainly reprehensible legislation? Well, there are the usual right wing wackos in the Republican Party, of course. 207 Republican representatives voted in favor of allowing the government spying against Americans to continue.
However, there were some unexpected instances of bravery and cowardice in the House vote on the Patriot Act yesterday. 18 Republicans did the right thing and voted against the Patriot Act. Unfortunately, 44 Democrats more than made up for the courage of these Republicans. 44 Democrats voted for the Patriot Act.
Who crossed party lines? Was your representative in the House one of those who did? Look below and see for yourself.
Republicans who did the right thing and voted against the Patriot Act:
Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland
Rob Bishop of Utah
Vernon Ehlers of Michigan
John Duncan of Tennessee
Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Timothy Johnson of Illinois
Walter Jones of North Carolina
Connie Mack of Florida
Donald Manzullo of Illinois
Robert Ney of Ohio
C.L. Otter of Idaho
Ron Paul of Texas
Tom Price of Georgia
Dana Rohrabacher of California
Charles Taylor of North Carolina
John Sweeney of New York State
Don Young of Alaska
Democrats who did the wrong thing and voted for the Patriot Act:
Robert Andrews of New Jersey
John Barrow of Georgia
Melissa Bean of Illinois
Sanford Bishop of Georgia
Dan Boren of Oklahoma
Leonard Boswell of Iowa
Allen Boyd of Florida
Ben Cardin of Maryland
Russ Carnahan of Missouri
Ed Case of Hawaii
Ben Chandler of Kentucky
Jim Cooper of Tennessee
Jim Costa of California
Bud Cramer of Alabama
Henry Cuellar
Artur Davis of Alabama
Jim Davis of Florida
Lincoln Davis of Tennessee
Chet Edwards of Texas
Rahm Emanuel of Illinois
Bob Etheridge of North Carolina
Jane Harman of California
Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota
Brian Higgins of New York
Tim Holden of Pennsylvania
Steny Hoyer of Maryland
Daniel Lipinski of Illinois
Jim Marshall of Georgia
Carolyn McCarthy of New York
Mike McIntyre of North Carolina
Charles Melancon of Louisiana
Brad Miller of North Carolina
Dennis Moore of Kansas
Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota
Silvestre Reyes of Texas
Michael Ross of Arkansas
Steven Rothman of New Jersey
C. A. Ruppersberger of Maryland
Adam Schiff of California
Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania
David Scott of Georgia
Ike Skelton of Missouri
Spratt of South Carolina
Gene Taylor of Mississippi
Of course, that list was largely predictable, the Blue Dogs and those who vote like them.