by TChris

This is how bipartisan negotiations over the Patriot Act have gone in the House:

"[T]he Republicans have told us for some time they are working on a bill, they asked for our suggestions, and they ended up saying that none of our suggestions were acceptable," the [senior Democratic] aide [on the House Judiciary Committee] said. "So they're now dropping a bill that we see as a total reauthorization of the Patriot Act with only very slight tweaks."

This is how bipartisan negotiations over the Patriot Act have gone in the Senate:

While negotiations to broker a bipartisan deal continued late Monday, Democratic officials said the compromise appeared to have stalled because of disagreement over whether to impose new restrictions on the government's ability to demand library records and other powers.

Bipartisan negotiations failed, in large part, because the Justice Department refused to agree to any lessening of the broad powers it gained under the Patriot Act. In fact, the Department wants even greater power, "including the F.B.I.'s expanded use of terrorism subpoenas without a judge's approval and ... expanded monitoring of certain mailings."

Elected representatives need to muster the courage to "just say no" to the Justice Department. They should work instead to pass the bipartisan SAFE Act.