posted 10-25-2001 09:31 PM            

So ...is it within the law to say it's
a horse poop bill?

Will they confiscate this grandma's
computer .? ..If they search the house
while I'm at work ...I hope they'll let
the dog out. She get's excited when
confronted by strangers and may have
an accident. I don't want to come home
to a mess.

WASHINGTON, DC -- The anti-terrorism bills just passed by the House and Senate will allow the government to secretly search your home, spy on bank accounts around the world, and monitor your e-mail -- provisions that Congress has rejected before and that Americans overwhelmingly oppose, the Libertarian Party said today.

"These bills could be called 'Spying on Americans: The Sequel,' " said Steve Dasbach, national director of the Libertarian Party. "It appears that politicians are trying to use terrorism as an excuse for imposing anti-privacy measures that the American public has soundly rejected in the past. That's not just wrong -- it's unpatriotic."

This week, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are working to reach agreement about conflicting provisions of two anti-terrorism bills: The USA Act, passed by the Senate on Thursday (by a 96-1 vote), and The PATRIOT Act, passed by the House on Friday (337-79).

A conference committee is working to resolve the differences between the two bills, and President Bush is expected to sign the final version by week's end.

Both bills dramatically expand law enforcement agencies' power to conduct searches, wiretaps, and other forms of electronic surveillance -- and those provisions should be stripped out of the final bill, said Dasbach.

"Politicians claim they're struggling to 'strike a balance between liberty and safety' in the fight against terrorism," he said. "Here's a simple rule to follow when trying to strike that balance: Don't turn an anti-terrorism bill into a Christmas tree, festooned with all sorts of anti-privacy regulations that have been rejected before."

The USA Act or the PATRIOT Act would:

* Allow "sneak-and-peak" searches.

"In June 2000, the Senate unanimously passed the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act (HR 2987), which had originally contained a secret search provision," said Dasbach. "It would have allowed police to break into your home while you were away, take photos or copy your computer files -- and not tell you about the search until later.

"After a public outcry, that provision was stripped from the bill. But apparently Senators can't take 'No Secret Searches' for an answer, because they've slipped the sneak-and-peak provision into their 243-page USA Act. It was wrong in 2000, and it is wrong now. It should be rejected."

* Authorize "Know Your Customer"-style bank spying.

"Back in 1998, more than 275,000 angry Americans stopped an attempt by the FDIC to force banks to spy on their own customers, and report any so-called unusual financial activity to the federal government," said Dasbach.

"Obviously, politicians can't take No (Your Customer) for an answer, because this program is back -- and it's gone global. The Senate bill would force banks in other countries to monitor their customers.

"But if the government doesn't have any business spying on you, why should it use your tax money to spy on people in foreign countries? Federally mandated bank spying was wrong in 1998, and it is wrong now. It should be rejected."

* Expand the Carnivore e-mail surveillance scheme.

"Last year, the FBI admitted it was secretly using the Carnivore e-mail cybersnooping system -- which allowed it to scan millions of e-mail messages. Americans were outraged, and forced Congress to hold hearings and the FBI to agree to limit its use," said Dasbach.

"Now, both the House and Senate bills contain provisions that could expand the use of Carnivore-style surveillance without a court order. But spying on the e-mail messages of millions of innocent Americans was wrong in 2000, and it is wrong now. It should be rejected."

What both anti-terrorism bills have in common, said Dasbach, is that they would require Americans to give up fundamental civil liberties because the government claims it would help fight terrorists.

And both contain controversial provisions that have been debated before -- and rejected.

"Libertarians share the desire to punish terrorists for their bloody attack on the United States," said Dasbach. "But that goal can be achieved without inflicting collateral damage on Americans' privacy with these provisions, which are nothing but recycled police state-style snooping.

"As Congress debates these bills, Americans need to remember: The terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, but they didn't destroy our Constitution. Only politicians can do that.

posted 10-25-2001 11:50 PM            

I'll bet Osama bin Laden is laughing up his lice-ridden beard right now. We must be doing exactly what he wants.

posted 10-26-2001 10:20 AM            

The lone dissenter stands in the
political spotlight.

posted 10-26-2001 12:28 PM            

Or maybe he really is doing what he (and I) consider as the principled thing to do. You've heard the saying, "even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while"!!

Regards,

posted 10-29-2001 08:05 PM            

I think some of those radio talk shows are staged, as are many if not most TV shows, especially the politically oriented ones. It's all smoke and mirrors, trying to convince us that black is white and white is black. I know this was done with Radio Marti and Radio Free Europe, propaganda that is. I also know that that kind of propaganda has been used on the American public... TPTB have almost perfected it I think.

I think we'd all be better off, if we would trust our own judgement and instincts and use common sense and not listen to what they're always trying to feed us.

I don't know anything about the Patriot Act, but at this point, I'm willing to trust the judgement of all of you much more than I'd trust what we're fed through the mainstream media puppets. We're getting at the truth of things the way people used to before TV was inflicted on us. We're talking about it!!... and not just listening to it like so many of our fellow citizens!

posted 10-31-2001 08:40 PM            

Are you referrring to the lone dissenter -
Feingold?
The mighty liberal from Wisconsin -
co conspirator of the McCain/Feingold
bill?
The guy who took center stage in
his lone dessenting vote against
the Patriot Act?

If his one vote WOULD have made a
difference .... he would NOT have
have voted against it.

I can't remember when I've seen
such phony grandstanding.

I like to follow the political scene of
my neighboring state. The stuff
that goes on in Madison is really
strange.
Even stranger than Madison ...the
antics of the Mayor and Chief of
Police of Milwaukee.

I like Wisconsin. I've spent a lot of
time there. Two of my daughters
are Marquette grads.
Also have some property in Phillips
that we pay (rent) taxes on .......
and I like the Packers as well as
the Bears. ....
And I love Door County.

posted 11-01-2001 05:58 AM            

They truly believe that it doesn't effect them. Of course, we have also only been wasting money, I mean dropping bombs, on Afghanistan for a little less then a month. What happens when we have been dropping bombs on them for 6 months and people have begun to grow tired of this "war?"

They will find they are unable to speak out against their gov't for fear of becoming a terrorist. But they can't see that now.

Some of you here do not agree with some of the things I have said, and that's fine. The fact that I can still say them and you can agree or disagree as you see fit is a nice "right" to have. How much longer do you think we will have it?

"But it won't effect me. Not at all." Yeah, right.

------------------
Just my $0.02.