Congressional Candidate Paul Richmond joins others in condemning Congresses recent vote, granting immunity to the telecoms who took part in illegal, warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens.  Incumbent Congressional Representative Norm Dicks again broke with the majority of Democrats.

“When large corporations break the law, they should be punished,” said Richmond.  “Otherwise what’s the point? What signal does it send when our prison population has increased ten-fold in thirty years, and corporations go unpunished?”

Though “blue dog” Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi describe this as a unified message, others see it differently.  Senator Russ Feingold, the Wisconsin Democrat who pushed unsuccessfully for more civil liberties safeguards in the plan, called the deal “a capitulation” by his fellow Democrats.  GOP House Whip Roy Blunt derided the telecom amnesty provision as nothing more than a "formality" which would inevitably lead to the immediate and automatic dismissal of all lawsuits against the telecoms.  Republican Senator Kit Bond was equally frank, “The White House got a better deal than they even hoped to get.”  [i]

“This is becoming a predictable pattern,” said Richmond.  “Scarcely a month ago, Dicks voted against the majority of Democrats to give the White House another $165 billion dollars to continue the War in Iraq with no strings attached.” 

“This isn’t the first time Dicks has voted against our most basic liberties,” said Richmond.  “Dicks supported the Patriot Act which attacks rights to legal process under the 4^th 5^th and 6^th Amendments; the Homegrown Terrorism Act which will study which “ideologies” ought to be illegal; the Defense Authorization Act that allows the military to be used against citizens for the first time in 130 years.”

As a media producer, community organizer and lawyer, Richmond has successfully challenged incursions into these same rights and done so for two decades.  He brings voters a real choice, someone who will uphold their rights.