The Great Deception -> Patriot Act - Bi Partisan Renewal Since 2002

Patriot Act - Bi Partisan Renewal Since 2002, May 2011 - Betrayed again by Congress!

Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

jofortruth

Posted: Jun 22 2007, 04:29 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

QUOTE

"Patriot Act renewal, and the new, even more dangerous ID Bill that would not only allow the government to listen to phone calls and monitor internet accounts, but would mandate Americans to get a federally-approved ID card complete with an RFID tracking device."

-- Campaign for Liberty

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Original Bill: HR 3162 (There is also a Patriot Act II)
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ge...publ056.107.pdf
http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

A Guide to the Patriot Act:
http://www.slate.com/id/2087984/

Congressional Record H7159 - H7196 - The Proceedings on HR 3162 in the House:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ge...ame=2001_record

Congressional Record S10990 - 11060 - Proceedings in the Senate:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2001-10-...-PgS10990-2.pdf
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2001-10-...t1-PgS10990.pdf

Legal Analysis:
http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL31377.pdf

CRS Report:
http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RS21203.pdf

A Critique of The Patriot Act:
http://www.cdt.org/security/usapatriot/031027cdt.shtml

jofortruth	Posted: Apr 2 2008, 09:30 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	The Patriot Act & Executive Orders Threaten Liberty: http://www.bordc.org/threats 110th Congress Proposed Legislation: http://www.bordc.org/threats/legislation/index.php Freedom During Times of War: Security, Not at the Expense of Secured Liberties http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/TimBaldwin.htm

jofortruth	Posted: Jun 3 2008, 02:12 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	TESTIMONY ON THE USA PATRIOT ACT BY BOB BARR (MEMBER OF CONGRESS, 1995-2003) http://intelligence.senate.gov/050419/barr.pdf THIS GUY IS BY NO MEANS MY FAVORITE, BTW! BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING! I DON'T BELEIVE HE IS THE REAL DEAL!

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 24 2009, 05:51 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Obama Quietly Backs Patriot Act Provisions http://www.infowars.com/obama-quietly-back...act-provisions/ Obama answers questions about the CFR and Patriot Act http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se0GrfvaKGk BARACK OBAMA: THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING (NOTE: time 1:30) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9P15YZrnv0

jofortruth

Posted: Dec 15 2009, 01:17 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

Senators Vote to Renew Patriot Act Spy Powers
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/pariot-act-renewal/

QUOTE

Voting to send the package to the Senate floor were:

Democrats (9)
Benjamin Cardin, Maryland
Dianne Feinstein, California
Al Franken, Minnesota
Edward Kaufman, Delaware
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Patrick Leahy, Vermont
Charles Schumer, New York
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island

Republicans (2)
John Cornyn, Texas
Jon Kyl, Arizona

Voting against:

Democrats (3)
Richard Durbin, Illinois
Russ Feingold, Wisconsin
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania

Republicans (5)
Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
Charles Grassley, Iowa
Orin Hatch, Utah
Jeff Sessions, Alabama

A link to the measure and the amendments that were forwarded to the Senate can be found at the Senate Judiciary Committee home page.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/

A Feingold measure (.pdf) to allow that provision to expire was defeated.
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatle...10/lonewolf.pdf

jofortruth	Posted: Dec 15 2009, 01:27 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	The USA PATRIOT Act http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/history/PatriotAct.cfm S. 1692 : To extend the sunset of certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and the authority to issue national security letters, and for other purposes. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ge...s1692rs.txt.pdf Patriot Act Renewal Moving Forward http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5705-patr...-moving-forward http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5705-patr...ward?format=pdf THIS MUST NOT BE EXTENDED AGAIN! IT IS ABOUT ERODING OUR FREEDOMS. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AL QAEDA WHICH IS NOTHING BUT A BOOGIE MAN BEING USED TO ROLL IN TYRANNY AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

jofortruth

Posted: Jan 4 2010, 02:08 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

Underwear Bomber False Flag to be Exploited to Renew Draconian Patriot Act
http://www.infowars.com/underwear-bomber-f...an-patriot-act/

QUOTE

Infowars.com
January 3, 2009

Prior to the underwear bomber incident on Christmas, the House of Representatives tabled legislation to �reform� the Constitution nullifying Patriot Act. On December 16, nine days before the patsy Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was delivered to the airport in Amsterdam by his handler, Congress decided to shuffle the law off into the New Year.

Wayne Madsen tells Russia Today the false flag non-attack will be used to push �Patriot Act 3.0.�

Many of the Patriot Act provisions were set to expire on January 1st.

David Kravets wrote for Wired at the time:

Under Wednesday�s action, the NSL-reform [National Security Letters] vote is also delayed until the New Year. And the three expiring provisions will remain in force at least through February. The extension came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) balked at a Senate plan to include Patriot Act amendments into a $636 billion Pentagon funding measure, saying doing so would create �revolt on the left.�

In fact, the so-called �left� in Congress is as dedicated to implementing the government�s control grid as the �right.� The only difference is that Democrats engage in more hand-wringing over the legislation.

So-called liberal Democrats have pushed for renewal of the police state law, including the former Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken, now a Democrat from Minnesota.

Judge Napolitano comments on the unconstitutionality of the Patriot Act.

�Heightened terrorist activity in recent days and months � from the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day to the shootings at Fort Hood, to the murder of a Saudi Arabian border guard by Yemeni insurgents, reveal that our need for robust intelligence gathering tools has not diminished since 9/11,� declared Republican Congressman Dan Lungren on December 31.

The false flag terror operation above Detroit will be used to squelch any opposition to renewing the Patriot Act in February.

Funny how things work.

jofortruth	Posted: Jan 22 2010, 01:50 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Glenn Beck is a Neocon (Not a Libertarian) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6C6E6ayh4U

jofortruth

Posted: Jan 25 2010, 11:57 AM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

QUOTE

"The Patriot Act is the most dastardly, direct assault on human liberty and guaranteed rights in the Constitution that the Congress ever enacted since the Alien and Sedition Acts 200 years earlier." -- Judge Napolitano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6C6E6ayh4U...player_embedded

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 9 2010, 09:43 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Congress has until end of February 2010 to Renew this AWFUL LEGISLATION (The Patriot Act) Please call the Senators and tell them "NO"! http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?to...cseen#msg944263 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_info...enators_cfm.cfm

jofortruth

Posted: Feb 9 2010, 09:54 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

Patriot Act Renewal Moving Forward:
http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5705-patr...-moving-forward

QUOTE

Written by Thomas R. Eddlem
Thursday, 03 December 2009 12:00

Renewal of two controversial Patriot Act provisions set to expire at the end of the year have been approved by House and Senate Committees over the past month, and appear headed for floor votes in both bodies. President Obama has endorsed extending the provisions.

The two provisions include the �records� rule and the �roving wiretaps� provision. The so-called �records� rule grants federal officials with a court order the power to force private parties such as businesses, hospitals, and libraries to hand over "any tangible thing" they believe has "relevance" to a terrorist investigation.

�Roving wiretaps� allow wiretapping multiple lines of communication without informing FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) courts which specific phone lines or communication media are being targeted.

President Obama has reversed himself on the issue, since he once opposed Patriot Act provisions as a fishing expedition by federal snoops in a December 15, 2005 Senate speech:

If someone wants to know why their own government has decided to go on a fishing expedition through every personal record or private document � through library books they've read and phone calls they've made � this legislation gives people no rights to appeal the need for such a search in a court of law. No judge will hear their plea, no jury will hear their case. This is just plain wrong.

Obama's 2005 speech was spot-on with regard to the facts. A recent Orange County Register editorial noted that �The evidence that any of these provisions has prevented or deterred a terrorist act is between slim and none � you can be sure that if they had been useful in helping to identify the handful of would-be terrorists who have been apprehended or prosecuted that government officials would have trumpeted the news.� And the Obama administration's own government confirms the Orange County Register's able summary. �According to the U.S. Attorney General's office,� ABCNews.com reported November 30, �there have been 220 such orders issued, but no major case to date has transpired because of information procured from them.�

Now that Obama is in power, what was once �just plain wrong� is suddenly just plain right.

Despite the fact that the records provision has never been used to prosecute any terrorists, the legislation has strong support among neo-conservative Republicans in Congress. "This critical legislation protects our national security, as well as our civil liberties, and the clock is ticking," claimed Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.

The 180-degree political reversal that has coincided in precise time with the changeover of the party in power at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by Obama and his supporters has led more honest leftists like Salon's Glenn Greenwald to question the sincerity of statements supporting strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution made during the Bush administration:

I could understand and accept a lot more easily this blithe acquiescence to Obama's record if it weren't for the fact that progressives and Democrats spent so many years screaming bloody murder over Bush's use of indefinite detention, military commissions, state secrets, renditions, and extreme secrecy � policies Obama has largely and/or completely adopted as his own. One can't help but wonder, at least in some cases, how genuine those objections were, as opposed to their just having been effective tools to discredit a Republican president for partisan and political gain.

Some leftist civil rights organizations such as the ACLU and People for the American Way have petitioned Congress not to renew these provisions of the Patriot Act. But most of the political left have simply rolled over now that �their man� is in charge.

Persons seeking limited government, particularly those seeking government under the limits of the U.S. Constitution, must oppose the tendency to secrecy as an essential stepping stone to tyranny. This explains why the Founding Fathers opposed giant intelligence establishments, even in the midst of Indian wars of terror that occasionally resulted in the deaths of thousands and the burning of entire towns. �Every one knows the vast sums laid out in Europe for secret services,� Elbridge Gerry noted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. But no one proposed then to emulate those establishments here in the United States. That's why James Madison, as one of his first acts as Speaker of the House in the first Congress, introduced the Bill of Rights with the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment contains an unequivocal prohibition against government searches without court warrants, probable cause and an oath. It also requires searches specifically describe what is being searched and what object is expected to be uncovered in the search.

Of course, the fact that no criminal trial has transpired as a result of the records provision of the Patriot Act is hardly a surprise. Anyone apprehended under such unconstitutional standards would never be brought to public trial. Giant intelligence establishments are generally loathe to reveal any secrets, no matter how trivial or how ancient. That's why President Obama recently agreed to postpone declassification of intelligence marked for the public domain years ago by both Presidents Clinton and Bush, despite the fact that some of the information goes all the way back to the Second World War.

Surveillance, torture and detention without jury trials have long gone hand-in-hand throughout all of human history. The Soviet KGB reputedly had listening devices everywhere they could, brought people for beatings and torture to the infamous Lubyanka prison in Moscow and then �disappeared� its prisoners to the gulag. The Nazi Gestapo also had an all-pervasive intelligence network, engaged in torture, and sent millions of detainees to concentration camps without trial.

That's why constitutionalists have opposed the Patriot Act from the beginning. It is a stepping stone to a far more brutal form of government than Americans have historically known.

Thomas R. Eddlem, a freelance writer, served as the John Birch Society's director of research from 1991-2000.

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 9 2010, 09:54 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Dem-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee extends PATRIOT Act provisions http://www.infowars.com/dem-controlled-sen...act-provisions/ FBI �manipulating� debate on Patriot Act reform http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=138019.0 http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 16 2010, 10:26 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Looks like the miserable Harry Reid is trying to slip the Patriot Act renewal into his Jobs Bill (because he apparently can't pass it any other way). See how these guys operate? This isn't leadership, it is a joke! http://www.infowars.com/senate-jobs-bill-c...-act-extension/ THIS FOOLISH SENATOR, HARRY REID, IS UP FOR REELECTION THIS YEAR. IF YOU PEOPLE IN UTAH REELECT HIM, YOU ARE THE BIGGEST FOOLS IN THE COUNTRY. FIRE THIS MENACE OF A SENATOR!

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 28 2010, 10:20 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Obama and the Patriot Act: �Yes We Can� Kill the Bill of Rights http://www.infowars.com/obama-and-the-patr...bill-of-rights/ Well of course he renewed it! He has lied about everything else, so why not this? Obama, you are a pathetic President, and I thought Bush was given that title! Geesh, are there any adults left in Washington? Yep, just continuing everything Bush started because they're both liars and puppets for the NWO banker elite and have no real allegiance to this country if they can sell it out so easily! These guys are not leaders, but good little followers who do as their masters tell them! Pathetic!

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 2 2010, 09:52 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Patriot Act Challenged - Supreme Court Refuses to take case: http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...?showtopic=8661 If the Republicans get back into office, it is their DUTY to repeal this unAmerican Act because THEY PUT IT IN PLACE! NOW IS THE TIME THAT YOU WILL SEE HOW THE REPUBLICANS ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THE DEMOCRATS. WATCH THEM CLOSELY, AND IF THEY DON'T REPEAL MUCH OF THE INSANITY THEY THEMSELVES PUT INTO AFFECT AFTER 911, WITH THE HELP OF THE DEMOCRATS, AS WELL AS REPEAL MUCH OF THE INSANITY PUT INTO PLACE BY OBAMA, THEY WILL BE REVEALED!

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 27 2010, 10:40 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...?showtopic=8761

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 28 2010, 11:38 AM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	National Security Letter Abuse: http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...topic=8763&st=0

jofortruth	Posted: Nov 28 2010, 12:01 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Widespread abuse of Patriot Act Powers: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/fbi-...riot-act-powers

jofortruth

Posted: Dec 8 2010, 03:54 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

Law Professor: Counter Terrorism Czar Told Me There Is Going To Be An i-9/11 And An i-Patriot Act
http://www.prisonplanet.com:80/law-profess...atriot-act.html

QUOTE

The Patriot Act, as well as its lesser known follow up the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as USA Patriot Act II, have been universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. They have stripped back basic rights and handed what have been described by even the most moderate critics as �dictatorial control� over to the president and the federal government.

Many believed that the legislation was a response to the attacks of 9/11, but the reality was that the Patriot Act was prepared way in advance of 9/11 and it sat dormant, awaiting an event to justify its implementation.

In the days after the attacks it was passed in the House by a majority of 357 to 66. It passed the Senate by 98 to 1. Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was even allowed to read the legislation.

Now we discover that exactly the same freedom restricting legislation has already been prepared for the cyber world.

jofortruth	Posted: Jan 13 2011, 06:12 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	Up for Renewal again 2011 http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=198132.0 http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-nat...-no-one-notices

jofortruth

Posted: Feb 4 2011, 01:06 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

2011 NEWS ALERT: A small group of Republicans move to make parts of the Patriot Act Permanent?
http://www.infowars.com/republicans-move-t...-act-permanent/
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?to...2221#msg1192221

QUOTE

�Short-term reauthorizations lead to operational uncertainty and compliance and reporting problems if the reauthorization occurs too close to expiration,� Grassley continued. �If these provisions are necessary, we should provide more certainty rather than simply revisiting the law year after year given the indefinite threat we face from acts of terrorism, and that looks like decades ahead. We should permanently reauthorize the three expiring provisions.�

Grassley, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Intelligence Committee Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. will introduce legislation to make the measures permanent.

jofortruth

Posted: Feb 8 2011, 11:16 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

Patriot Act extension fails in the House by seven votes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0806345_pf.html

It failed because they didn't get 2/3 vote of 435 House members (needed 290, they only got 277)

QUOTE

26� 8-Feb� � H R 514� On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass� Failed�

To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records, individual terrorists as agents of foreign powers, and roving wiretaps until December 8, 2011

Thank you for the NO votes! The Patriot Act is not patriotic, nor is it Constitutional. It needs to go.

jofortruth	Posted: Feb 9 2011, 01:38 PM
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 31,456 Member No.: 1 Joined: 1-May 07	The names of the 8 New Republicans who voted the right way on HR 514 Patriot Act Renewal select parts "NO": (They should be applauded for their vote, and called if possible, but also watched for consistency going forward): House Members List (Alpha): http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/olmbr.html House Phone List: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/TTD-112.pdf Find List of New Members here: http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Decep...?showtopic=8671 Compare the above list to the New Republicans NO votes on HR 514, and this is what you get: (There were also some Democrats who voted the right way, NO, and they are also to be applauded, but all need to be watched for consistency in the future also) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll026.xml State District Representative MI - 3rd Amash, Justin PA - 8th Fitzpatrick, Michael G. IL - 14th Hultgren, Randy NY -20th Gibson, Christopher P. ID - 1st Labrador, Raul IL - 17th Schilling, Robert T. AZ - 5th Schweikert, David GA - 7th Woodall, Rob So, will these guys be the new heroes in the House, and use their own brains when they vote, or will they eventually be coopted by the machine who tells Congressmen how to vote? So far they have a good start, and it's up to us to applaud their INDEPENDENT ACTIONS like this, so they will keep doing it!

jofortruth

Posted: Feb 9 2011, 04:27 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

44: GOP Freshmen Help Derail Patriot Act Extension: (Backs up my findings above)
http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/c.jsp?ite...id=578815&spf=1

QUOTE

44: GOP freshmen help derail Patriot Act extension
By Scott Butterworth
Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011

Updated 9:45 p.m.

Nine Eight House Republican freshmen and three inaugural members of the Tea Party Caucus voted against a proposed extension of three Patriot Act provisions Tuesday night, blocking the measure from passage under fast-track rules.

The House clearly backed the measure, voting 277 to 148 to extend the provisions, and most Republicans stuck by their leadership and supported the extension. But enough defected, joined by most Democrats, to keep the measure seven votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for passage under the fast-track procedure.

The House is likely to bring the extensions back up before the end of the month under regular procedures, when a simple majority would suffice to send it to the Senate.

Attention immediately swung to whether House members sympathetic to the tea party had decided the matter, especially after Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) said Monday that the vote would be "the tea party's first test."

The Republicans who voted no Tuesday night included Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Paul Broun (Ga.) and Walter B. Jones (N.C.), all of whom were original members of the House Tea Party Caucus when it was founded last summer.

And nine eight GOP freshmen also voted no: Justin Amash (Mich.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.). (Updated: Graves was actually elected to office last June and thus is not an official freshman.)

The full list of House Republicans who voted no is after the jump.

Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Rob Bishop (Utah), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.) Dean Heller (Nev.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Timothy V. Johnson (Ill.), Walter B. Jones (N.C.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Connie Mack (Fla.), Kenny Marchant (Tex.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ron Paul (Tex.), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rob Woodall (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska).

jofortruth

Posted: Feb 9 2011, 04:39 PM

Administrator

Group: Admin
Posts: 31,456
Member No.: 1
Joined: 1-May 07

TWO EXAMPLES: Interesting to note that the day after the House BLOCKED the Patriot Act renewal, these articles appeared, among many others: (THIS IS VERY TYPICAL. IT HAPPENED SURROUNDING THE BAILOUTS AFTER CONGRESS, THE FIRST TIME, STOPPED IT, BUT THEN LATER GAVE IN TO PAULSON'S THREATS AND VOTED FOR IT. )

"Napolitano: Terror Threat May be Highest Since 9/11" CNN
http://mw.cnn.com/snarticle?c=cnnd_us&p=0&...terror.threat:1

QUOTE

By the CNN Wire Staff
UPDATED: 01:54 PM EST 02.09.11

Washington (CNN) - The terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland has continued to "evolve" and may now "be at its most heightened state" since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told members of Congress on Wednesday.

The most significant risk to the United States is probably posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Anwar al-Awlaki, said Michael Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. The American-born Muslim cleric has close ties to al Qaeda, and has been linked to Army Maj. Nidal Hassan, the alleged culprit behind the November 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

There is an increased reliance on recruiting Westerners into terrorist organizations, Napolitano said during testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee. State and local law enforcement officers are increasingly needed to combat terror, and a greater focus is needed on aiding law enforcement to help secure communities, she said.

Along with the joint terror task force led by the FBI, the nation's four-pronged counterterrorism response includes locally run "fusion centers" aimed at facilitating intelligence-sharing and analysis; a nationwide reporting initiative for suspicious acts; and the "If you see something, say something" campaign designed to "foster public vigilance," Napolitano added.

The campaign has been rolled out at major public events such as the Super Bowl and at retail centers, Napolitano said.

In addition, as previously announced, authorities are replacing the color-coded terror alert system with a more useful one, she said. The new system will reflect the nation's need to be ready while also keeping the public as informed as possible, she said.

Al Qaeda is at its weakest point in the last decade, but remains "a very determined enemy," Leitner said, noting there have been multiple disrupted plots in northern Europe in the last five years.

Authorities are also watching groups such as the one behind the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba; Hezbollah; and Greek anarchists like the ones thought to have sent letter bombs to embassies.

At the same time, "homegrown radicalization is a growing threat, and one we cannot ignore," said New York GOP Rep. Peter King, the committee's chairman.

The attacks at Fort Hood show that attacks from radicals within the United States do not need to be sophisticated to be effective, Leiter responded.

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Georgia, used the hearing to argue that Transportation Security Adminstration employees should be actively profiling Muslims at airports, as opposed to randomly selecting people in security lines.

"We're not focusing on those people who want to harm us, and the people who want to harm us are not grandmas," Broun said. "Give me a break. ... We've got to profile these folks."

Napolitano argued that terrorists would ultimately benefit if certain airport screening procedures do not remain random. If rules are set down regarding the treatment of certain groups, she said, terrorists would "know those rules" and learn how to manipulate them.

Asked about congressional deliberations over whether to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act, Leiter said the measure remains "a very important tool" for law enforcement officials, particularly in terms of stopping domestic extremists. It would be "very problematic" if the provisions are allowed to expire, as currently scheduled, at the end of February, he said.

Among other things, the provisions allow for roving wiretap surveillance of certain targets without requiring law enforcement officers to constantly seek new court orders.

The House voted 277-148 on Tuesday in favor of extending the provisions through early December, falling 13 votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for passage.

Newsflash: Tea Party didn't kill Patriot Act
http://fluentnews.com/s/26452085

QUOTE

Adam Serwer
Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011

Yesterday, a vote on reauthorizing three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act failed after most Democrats and a few Republicans voted against it. So does the vote represent a new Tea Party revolt against big government? Hardly. Republicans hate the welfare state, not the surveillance state.�

Only 26 Republicans voted against the bill, and there are 52 members of the Republican Tea Party Caucus, whose chairperson, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn)� voted for reauthorization along with most of the rest of her caucus. As Slate's Dave Weigel� points out, only eight of the 26 were Republican freshmen elected last November. One hundred and twenty-two Democrats voted against reauthorization, I suspect most of them just because they could.

So how did the bill fail? Basically Republicans were trying to pass the bill under "suspension of the rules," which is considered the process for passing "noncontroversial" legislation.� You need a two thirds majority of those present to pass bills that way. For one brief night, Republicans in the House learned what it was like to be a Democrat in the Senate.�

Sadly, the revolt probably won't last, as there are more than the 218 votes needed to pass reauthorization under normal procedures. What's uncertain is whether the reauthorization will contain mild oversight provisions, and when the provisions will actually sunset. As Cato's Julian Sanchez notes, there are two Democratic Senate versions that reauthorize these provisions for three years, but the Republican House version sunsets them until December 2011, while the Republican Senate proposal makes them permanent. Democratic Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy's� version of the bill would reign in Section 215 orders and provide some key oversight over the use of the widely abused National Security Letters, but those modest reforms were too much for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), so she introduced an alternate bill without them.

The Republican House version places reauthorization right in the middle of presidential primary season, while the Democratic versions kick the can down the road three years. That means that we might be looking forward to the Republican candidates' positions on the Patriot Act becoming an issue, which may lead to some irresponsible grandstanding about the necessity of passing the Patriot Act without any meaningful oversight. Remember "double Guantanamo?"

See how these types of articles attempt to fearmonger, keep the big bad lies about how Al Qaeda is going to get us" mantra going, as well as attempting to diminish the power in this new Congress that was shown on this vote. I believe what stopped the Patriot Act from being renewed was true leaders who were just elected to our Congress, who know what is truly happening, and are going to put a stop to it.

Forget the Tea party line this article projects. It's irrelevant. How about the possibility of the people finally electing some GOOD LEADERS FOR A CHANGE WHO HAVE A BACKBONE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THIS COUNTRY FOR A CHANGE, INSTEAD OF THE BIDDING OF THE ELITE GODS?

(Serwar needs to get a clue. Is he related to Andy Serwar who is also in the media?)

THE ELITE ARE SCARED, SO THEY GET THEIR GOON LOW LIFES IN THE MEDIA TO WRITE ARTICLES LIKE THESE. THEY ARE A JOKE!

0 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)

0 Members:

« Next Oldest | Legislation Pending & Passed by Congress / and Hearings | Next Newest »

Create your own social network with a free forum.

Learn More · Register for Free