> The Freedom Act is likely better than whatever a Republican controlled legislative branch will pass In terms of passing new legislative initiatives (modulo s

> The Freedom Act is likely better than whatever a Republican controlled legislative branch will pass In terms of passing new legislative initiatives (modulo some appropriations stuff), the legislative branch is already effectively Republican-controlled because of the GOP House. The big Senate changes are probably Udall's departure and Feinstein and Leahy losing their committee chairs. Udall's successor is also pro-reform but without the seniority. As for Leahy, there's a reason why the Sunlight Foundation and the other groups have been critical of his bill. For background I wrote this last year: http://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-senate-oversight-bill-may-handcuff-u-s-companies/ http://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-senate-oversight-bill-may-handc... ...the Vermont Democrat also authored the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which is now looming over Web companies, as well as the deeply unpopular Protect IP Act. Leahy had introduced significant portions of the Patriot Act under the name Enhancement of Privacy and Public Safety in Cyberspace Act (PDF) more than a year before the September 11 attacks happened...