[mrsmith]

Why?

The congress said when they passed it that the law was intended to apply to all money laundering in general- not just terrorism related.

In fact a whole other bill on money-laundering was added onto the Patriot Act. Congress well knew that they were not passing law just for terrorism.

[Enterprise]

Thank you for that clarification. It has until now been my belief that the intent was solely for terrorism! I stand corrected!

[Enterprise]

It becomes clearer now though. It is much more fun to investigate strip clubs than to investigate terrorism.

[poet]

"Why?"

Why? Because it is a naked grab for power by the gov't to stifle future dissent and criticism of gov't policy(s).

It has nothing whatsoever to do with patriotism. The acronym is a not so clever use of semantics to fool people (you know the ones, those who want cradle to the grave security from Big Brother). It means Providing Appropiate Tools Required to Intercept & Obstruct Terrorism! In fact, the original acronym was USAPA which added Uniting & Strengthening etc.,.

Instead of restricting the liberties & freedoms of Americans, the gov't should CLOSE our borders. Short of doing that, thers is no real "war" on terrorism, rather, it is a selective "war".

If you want to read the pros & cons of this monstrous law, do a Google search.

End of rant.