Already yelled at my rep/senator to not drink the koolaid.
So why did it pass? Well, a combo of recent high profile hacks, Ashley Madison and the players involved - the majority of BigTech opposes it - however, the supporters are traditional institutions like banks, retailers, fast food etc. If enough scream like SOPA/PIPA is raised, then politicians will listen. The problem? Traditional firms want the government to fix things - applying the logic of sledgehammer to peanuts.
I personally hope disagreements within the House and Senate, plus big players like Ron Wyden knock sense into people and normal squabbling cripples the bill.
Understand the playing field, understand the chess pieces in play. Our senators still don't know how the Internet works and the NSA sees it as a golden opportunity to engage in mass surveillance. I think the vital context looked over IS the big push from big retailers and banks. The NSA knows it can craft this into a surveillance bill in all but name, but what gave the "push" from our legislative bodies was a combination of these factors.