Even some of the hawkier, harder-line folks are a bit dismayed over the scope of the anti-terrorism bill passed, as well as the speed at which it was rushed through Congress. This Reason article makes it sound like all the various law enforcement agencies (the FBI at the vanguard) simply dusted off all the proposals they’d had over the past two decades, bundled them up, and sent them to Capitol Hill.
Although the House passed anti-terrorism legislation earlier this month, it was far removed from a bill that made it through the Senate. Deliberations that normally would have gone on in a conference committee instead happened informally. In the meantime, congressional sources who could have shed some light on the proceedings were almost impossible to track down because of the anthrax-induced frenzy on Capitol Hill. According to McCullagh, rank-and-file House members were still in the dark Tuesday night as leaders tried to hash out a deal with the Senate and the administration: “Members of the House of Representatives were saying, ‘Whoa, can I see a copy of this bill? We haven’t seen it yet.’”
Bad laws rarely have good results.
(Via InstaPundit)