Business turns on Bush on Patriot Act

As if the Bush administration didn't have enough alligators chewing on its legs, here is some more very, very bad news for W & Company:

WASHINGTON -- Some of the nation's most powerful business groups are splitting with the Bush administration over whether to restrict the anti-terror USA Patriot Act.

The business groups complained to Congress on Wednesday that the Patriot Act makes it too easy for the government to get confidential business records. That put them at odds with one of President Bush's top priorities _ the unfettered extension of the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In the first organized criticism of the act from the business sector, these groups endorsed amendments that would require investigators to say how the information they seek is linked to individual suspected terrorists or spies, and would allow businesses to challenge the requests in courts and to speak publicly about those requests...

Among the signers were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents 3 million businesses; the National Association of Manufacturers, which represents large and small industrialists in every state; and the National Association of Realtors, with 1 million members. All three are regulars on Fortune magazine's list of nation's 25 most powerful lobbying outfits.

Full AP story.