Spying and Congress -- chicagotribune.com: The Democrats in Congress did a smart thing in last summer's intense debate over limits on American eavesdropping on terror suspects overseas. The Democrats folded. They agreed to plug a huge gap in that foreign surveillance: They helped pass a bill that expanded the government's authority to eavesdrop -- without a warrant -- on international phone calls and other communications that pass through U.S. networks.

But the new law came with an expiration date of February 2008.

And almost as soon as the ink was dry, some Democrats suffered buyer's remorse. The bill was overly broad and lacked effective court oversight, some civil libertarians said. Critics said the Democrats had been rolled by the Republican White House, stampeded by fears that they would be blamed if there was a terrorist attack and they hadn't fixed the intelligence law.

Now Congress and the White House are sparring again. The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that many Democrats say would fix the current law's excesses and assure Americans that their privacy rights aren't being trampled by overzealous federal wiretappers. Republicans have labeled the Democrats' new proposal deeply flawed.

So the fight is on. Sticking points include:

(Read Original Article - Via chicagotribune.com .)