“Mussolini Mitch” McConnell passed–with all Senate Republicans as accomplices–the fascist TPP, enhancing the power of the corporate state and empire for the benefit of the big crony corps. But he was not able to pass the Patriot Act extension. Most GOPers want the worse Freedom Act, which legalizes various NSA crimes not mentioned in the Patriot Act. We only know about these crimes because of Ed Snowden, of course. But Rand raised procedural objections, as did Dem senators Wyden and Heinrich, and Mitch left town, apparently upset. Insiders predict a deal before those Patriot Act sections expire, so long as votes on curbing amendments are allowed. We’ll see. No one in the entire Congress, now that Ron Paul is gone, wants to abolish what I always think of as the National Socialist Apparatus.

BTW, the corporatists in the GOP House were pro-TPP. too.