The vote on passage of the USA PATRIOT Act was 52-47. This is eight votes short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster supported by Democrats and a few Republicans. This is a clear defeat for the Bush Administration. This is one more negative mark against the 2nd term of President Bush. Some other problems that Bush has faced over the past year in office includes:
- The indictment of Lewis Scooter Libby and the possible indictment of Carl Rove
- Failed Social Security reform
- The 2,000 death mark in Iraq
- The developing National Security Agency (NSA) story
- Revelations of "secret prisons" in Europe
The president was rebounding with poll numbers increasing over the last month. This is going to bring down the support of Bush. The Republicans must make a stand if they want a good chance in the midterm elections. Bush's approval rating stands at about 40%. This is not good enough to get Senators and Representatives elected on solely the Presidents name.
Reported in the New York Times today, "President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans...without the court-approved warrants." This story has been released for only one day, but already congressional leaders have promised to look into the allegations as reported in the article. The Bush Administration has refused to comment saying that they will not comment on current on-going intelligence gathering operations. This can only spell trouble for Bush.
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