First the Senate moved to block renewing the Patriot Act, now it changed its mind.
The Senate passed a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act late Wednesday night, hoping to avoid the expiration of law enforcement powers deemed vital in the war on terror.
I thought Republicans never flip-flopped?!
Update: The House decides to extend it only one month.
The House of Representatives agreed to extend a controversial domestic surveillance law this afternoon, but it limited the extension to one month and rejected a carefully brokered compromise from the Senate that had given the law a six-month reprieve.
The local news had a big story yesterday about how the government has been spying on Arabs in the Detroit area, as if it was something that just started happening and they had no idea the government was doing it.
I’m glad it was only a six-month extension, and I hope it’s over soon.
I think it should be have been extended for at least 4 years, or more. People are freaking out about nothing the key is probable cause is still required to obtain warrants under the patriot act. If you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.
Middle Easterners in the Detroit area confirm that the melting pot concept is still alive and well. Like just today I saw an older woman of such descent with bleach blond hair and skin tight jeans.
Rod, if you are serious, what if the government’s interest is opposite of yours? What do you do then when you’re up against a police state?
Your premise that the government will not harm you unless you’re doing something wrong relies on the belief that the government is looking out for you. What evidence do you have for that?!
It’s hillarious how many people say its no big deal every time our civil liberties are chipped away. Go visit China, and see what life is like as an innocent person or even a patriot with no civil liberties. This country is closing in fast.
>>If you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry
>>about.
Darned tooting! And if you have nothing to hide in your house, you should have no problem with storm troopers searching it randomly. Or stopping your car and making you open the trunk. Or reading your mail. Or eavesdropping on your phone conversations. Oh, wait. They’re already doing that.
This extension probably makes things worse. Most of the law is permanent. The new version has some changes that rolled back some of the government’s power. Now this version doesn’t do that, it just extends what is already there. Hopefully it will be reauthorized with a few additional changes, but it’s looking like they might not even get the changes already agreed to. Perhaps if they would negotiate in good faith instead of getting changes and then filibustering. How many elections do the Democrats want to lose over national security?
I remember seeing this quote from a Holocaust survivor.
When the Nazi came and took away the Gipsy’s, we said it’s only the Gipsy’s.
Then the Nazi came and took away the Jews, we said it’s only the Jews.
Then the Nazi came for everyone else.
I worry that the American people have become too complacent.
Maybe in years to come someone will say When they took away the fourth amendment. We said it makes us feel safer. Then they said we need to takeaway the rest!
To Rod,
You’d make an excellent Brownshirt, Stasi, KGB, or Gestapo agent. Keep up the good old Mussollini statements. Orwell could put you in one of his books too!
Neither side will do anything without the approval of their corporate masters.
Fascism wrapped in the flag, perfect for all the suckers & chumps while the powerful sell us all down a communist, chinese made outsourced river.
By the time people realize they’ve been had, it’ll be too late,
Smart move by the house tonight to make it one month. This way the Senate has to seriously address this issue now, not just push it off until the summer.
Stupid move by the House.
The Senate has already passed a measure giving a SIX months extension so the Patriot Act may be gone over correctly and fined tuned. I doubt the Senate would now change to one month. The arrogance of the Republican leadership is surely showing.
Wow, way to miss the point Pat.
When, under any leadership, has the Senate taken time to properly address an issue?
Answer: They haven’t. This puts pressure on the Senate to actually do the work and not push it off, which is what the six months was all about.
To think that this is about left/right is a joke. This is about senators in both parties trying to jockey for position in the ’08 races.
FYI… The Senate did agree to the one month deal, by a 1-0 vote late last night. The other 99 senators had already left town.
Are there ANY cases where a terrorist has been caught because of the Patriot Act? I’ve never heard of any.
If the Patriot Act is SO ESSENTIAL then there should be more than a few terrorists in jail becauce of it, right?
From Lexis Nexis:
InstantID® is a fast, convenient and effective solution to verify the identity of individuals and businesses and to assist with USA PATRIOT Act compliance.
Old news 2005. 312,000 individuals affected. Lexis Nexis passwords compromised.
Put the compromised system in charge of compliance. Duh!
Maybe this sounds crazy, but does anybody really understand the logic of any of this? Is Lexis Nexis fixed? What will break in 2006?
Now they are going to help companies comply with the Patriot Act.
The government needs more “tools”. More brains might go a long way. Everybody will have to comply, even if the whole thing makes no sense at all, which isn’t shocking given the way Washington operates these days. I’m not sure about the Patriot Act and what compliance means.
DAYTON, OH, March 09, 2005 – Reed Elsevier today announced that LexisNexis, its global legal and business information business, has identified a number of incidents of potentially fraudulent access to information about U.S. individuals at its recently acquired Seisint unit. The incidents arose from the misappropriation by third parties of IDs and passwords from legitimate customers. LexisNexis has notified law enforcement authorities and is proactively assisting in law enforcement investigations of these incidents. LexisNexis is also working with customers to enhance security procedures.
James
How right you are. I wrote this before I had heard about Rockerfeller (?) voting for the one month extension. I wonder how it will stand up when the filibustering Senators return from their Christmas break? Because the bill had been so radically changed in conference, causing the first defeat, I doubt there will be many happy campers in the Senate. Also because the Senate had already passed the six month extension, will this single vote hold up?
From my understanding the single vote is solid. The Senate now has one month to do this right, or just chuck the whole damn thing. Nice job by the House, IMO.
Also IMO, parts of the Patriot Act need to go, and there needs to be clairification as to what Bush can and can’t do. The wire tap on Americans dust up really doesn’t bother me, but if it bothers the majority then it needs to change. That simple.
Does anybody know the answer to my question… has the Patriot Act actually caught a terrorist who couldn’t have been caught with traditional law enforcement methods?
It seems to me that this is an ESSENTIAL question… maybe THE central question: Is the Patriot Act proven needed?
Many Americans might be willing to give up a few civil liberties to be made safer. But, if the Patriot Act cannot be proven efficacious, then why give up even one of our freedoms?
Before I can support it, I demand that the advocates of the Patriot Act prove that it is needed. I think Congress should demand this, too.