No need for change

There are two issues here. The first, is that the telecoms put in some wiretaps without a warrant, and the administration wants them to be immune from the lawsuits that resulted from it. Second, the administration wants the ability to tap any phone call between some one in the US and any other party that is reasonably believed to be outside of the US without the need for a warrant to be issued. (I don't know if they will have to apply for a warrant within some amount of time after the tap is activated, or not, like the current FISA court warrants.)

As to the first issue, we should all be outraged that the telecoms went along with the warrantless wiretaps, that the administration asked for wiretaps without securing the appropriate warrants, and that the Congress is voting to make the telecoms immune to the backlash. The fact that the Senate vote was 68 - 29 (the full bill, and motions) in favor shows that we are not outraged nearly enough. The good news is that the House version of the bill does not include the telecom immunity, but unless the dumbocrats get a collective spine ...

As to the second issue, it is conceivable that under this law, a US citizen within the country calling another US citizen outside of the country may have their phone call recorded by the US government. My question is: why does the mere fact that a citizen is outside of the country entail that they lose their rights as a US citizen?