AP: Congress may cut Patriot Act powers

[xyboymil]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is moving to curb some of the police powers it gave the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including imposing new restrictions on the FBI's access to private phone and financial records.

A budding House-Senate deal on the expiring USA Patriot Act includes new limits on federal law enforcement powers and rejects the Bush administration's request to grant the FBI authority to get administrative subpoenas for wiretaps and other covert devices without a judge's approval.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PATRIOT_ACT?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I wonder if Congress will have the balls to actually do it?

[ixion]

1. to hell with the tweaks, repeal the entire act. period.

but this is a modest start, at least.

[ReadTomPaine]

2. Agreed. Repeal. n/t

[Benhurst]

3. ....

:thumbsup:

[aquart]

9. not interested in modest. complete repeal. now.

[CountAllVotes]

13. I agree

should have never been to begin with. Give us back our freedoms! Resurrect the Constitution of the United States!

:patriot:

:kick:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. Well it is about fucking time.

But I'll wait for the followthrough before I jump up out of my chair and do the victory fist pump thing.

[jsamuel]

5. doesn't this directly apply to the Campus Networks that the FBI is trying

to get them to allow them access to tap anyone without having to get permission first?

[Captain Hilts]

6. They don't need 'balls' to do it. How 'bout fortitude, or a spine? nt

[firefox]

7. The police state has already arrived

What are they going to do about the other stuff talked about here- http://tinyurl.com/c53f6

Did you know that under the terms of the new Patriot Act prosecutors will be able to seek the death penalty in cases where "defendants gave financial support to umbrella organizations without realizing that some of its adherents might eventually commit violence"? (NY Times; editorial 10-30-05) So, if someone unknowingly gave money to a charity that was connected to a terrorist group, he could be executed.

Or, that the Senate Intelligence Committee is fine-tuning the details of a bill that will allow the FBI to secretly procure any of your personal records without "probable cause" or a court order giving them "unchecked authority to pry into personal and business matters"? (New York Times, "Republicans seek to widen FBI Powers, 10-19-05)

Or, that on June 29, President Bush put "a broad swath of the FBI" under his direct control by creating the National Security Service (aka; the "New SS")? This is the first time we've had a "secret police" in our 200 year history. It will be run exclusively by the president and beyond the range of congressional oversight.



Or, that on October 27, 2005 president Bush created the National Clandestine Service, which will be headed by CIA Director Porter Goss and will "expand reporting of information and intelligence value from state, local and tribal law enforcement entities and private sector stakeholders"? This executive order gives the CIA the power to carry out covert operations, spying, propaganda, and "dirty tricks" within the United States and on the American public. ("The New National Intelligence Strategy of the US" by Larry Chin, Global Research)

<snipped>

Why the change of heart? The House and Senate have already passed legislation on the Patriot Act renewal/expansion and it is being reconciled in committee. Why are they talking about changing their mind now? Did somebody actually read it now or is the call to remove them all from our offices making them challenge the fascists' orders?

[UpInArms]

16. here's what this mal-administration is doing with the un-Patriot Act

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7625.shtml

excerpt:

Rove started the list while Bush served as governor of Texas, compiling information on various political enemies in the state and leaking damaging information on opponents to friends in the press. The list grew during Bush’s first run for President in 2000 but the names multiplied rapidly after the terrorist attacks of 2001 and passage of the USA Patriot Act. Using the powers under the act, Rove expanded the list to more than 10,000 names, utilizing the FBI’s “national security letters” to gather private and intimate details on American citizens.

National security letters, which can be issued by an FBI supervisor without a judge’s review or approval, allows the bureau to examine the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of any Americans.

The FBI issues some 30,000 national security letters a year to employers, credit bureaus, banks, travel agencies and other sources of information on American citizens. The Patriot Act also forbids anyone receiving such a letter to reveal they have passed on information to the federal government.

“Those letters helped us build files quickly on those we needed to know more about,” says a former White House aide.

The database of political enemies of the Bush administration is not maintained on White House computers and is located on a privately-owned computer offsite, but can be accessed remotely by a select list of senior aides, including Rove. The offsite location allowed the database to escape detection by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald during his investigation of the Valerie Plame leak. The database is funded by private donations from Bush political backers and does not appear on the White House budget or Federal Election Commission campaign reports.

...lots more...

[xyboymil]

8. I'd love to see them repeal the whole damn thing. But this IS a start..

if they approve it.

Maybe Congress is waking up that we dont need an Act that was written based on a never-ending Anxiety/Panic Attack in 2001-2004. :eyes:

[Gman]

10. Republicans have to stand for reelection next year

and they are already running from Bush like the Devil from holy water.

[John Q. Citizen]

19. Bingo. They are trying to look independent and they know the

patriot act is unpopular on the far right and the far left.

[reprobate]

11. Pardon me, but it's got a long way to go. Let's not get too excited yet

It's go to go to reconciliation first, and then to the AIC-(asshole in charge) to be signed. And you can bet that he'll veto it. Which means they'll need a supermajority to pass it over a veto.

This is not the time to get excited. The time will be in a year and a few months when we have a Dem house and senate and only need a few repugs to pass it over a veto.

Then in '08 we can repeal the damn thing officially.

[AndyTiedye]

12. If He Vetoes It, Then Much of the Patriot Act EXPIRES

[madmark]

14. repeal the whole damn thing and just hire and train competent

fbi that has the energy and smarts to use the tools already there. Had the FBI gotten the subpoenas the field people asked for which were readily available by following standard procedure, Moussai's computer would have been searched pre-911. Had the FBI not had its head up its ass it would have reviewed and understood the Phoenix Memo, synthesized it with Moussai's searched computer, and maybe would have stopped 9-11. The Patriot act is a bullshit infringement of liberties, and not a substitute for competent security personnel.

[liveoaktx]

15. VIDEOS- Some of the House Proceedings today on

Motion to Instruct from Boucher, Rohrbacher, etc-at top of page currently

[roguevalley]

17. dump it all. its nazism and stalinism writ large. is this a great week or

what?

[kansasblue]

18. This is very good news. We begin to move away from the dark side.