Posted on 02/10/2010 7:34:21 AM PST by AgThorn
February 9, 2010 Dear William, Taking away our freedoms is not Patriotic. In fact, there is nothing more un-American. The badly misnamed Patriot Act is not the Act of Patriots. It is the act of petty tyrants seeking more and more power and control over our country. Now, ever so quietly, the Obama administration is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to sneak reauthorization of the Patriot Act through without creating a stir among liberty-minded Americans. Well, I'm for making a stir. A BIG STIR. How about you? We’ve all heard the defenses. How the Patriot Act was needed to combat “terrorism.” How it would not be used against U.S. citizens. How it would not be abused. These lies have all been clearly exposed. For eight years, the American people have ignored the wisdom of our founding fathers and traded freedom for security – and as predicted, we are losing both as a result. And now, Congress and the White House are set to reauthorize the so-called Patriot Act. They have until the end of this month to act. Even talk about a window-dressing “reform” bill has stopped. The Mainstream Media, fixated on Obama and tea party rallies, doesn’t say a word about it. Frankly, you and I know the Patriot Act should be scrapped, or at least massively re-written to block federal snoops from casting fishing nets over the lives, histories and data of hard-working Americans. Unless you and I act today, however, this won’t happen. . . . . . and the Patriot Act will be reauthorized for another five years or more without hardly a peep or a dissent. The weak link for the snoop-state insiders remains the U.S. Senate -- where one Big Government boondoggle after another has been bottled up or defeated. But my contacts in the Senate say there's not hardly a peep of opposition to the Patriot Act being heard right now. They say they are willing to fight -- some even admit privately it was a mistake supporting it the first time when President Bush demanded it in the midst of the outrage following the 9/11 attacks. But no one will take this on unless there is a shout of opposition from the American people. That’s why I urge you to let Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Dianne Feinstein hear from you today. Please click here to sign our Liberty Petition, demanding your senators allow the Patriot Act to expire. If we do not stop this reauthorization, we’ll see a whole lot more of what we’ve gotten over the last eight years: As you well know, this isn’t some conspiracy theory. This is happening all around us. And you and I can help put a stop to it today. One of the most egregious abuses of the Constitution, using the Patriot Act as its basis, is so-called National Security letters, used commonly by the FBI. It has been estimated that the FBI has used these NSLs – which allow access to records WITHOUT any court or search warrant – at least 50,000 times since 2001. Just one example, noted in BusinessWeek in 2005, showed that the FBI had issued tens of thousands of NSLs and had obtained one million financial, credit, employment, and health records from the customers of targeted Las Vegas businesses. Selected businesses included casinos, storage warehouses and car rental agencies. And that’s just one case. Our federal government is out of control, and every day we see it attempting to abridge more of our constitutional rights. We know they’d take away our Second Amendment rights in a heartbeat if they could, and we must also remain vigilant to this threat. They’re spending us and our children into poverty, with crushing trillion dollar deficits. And they’re allowing the out of control Fed to ruin the dollar and push forward toward the collapse of our currency and way of life. All of these are vital fights. But none are more critical at the moment than taking back our freedoms from the statists and power-hungry federal thugs who use the Patriot Act to dig into every aspect of American lives under the false pretense of making us safer. We cannot be a free nation and have this un-American law on the books. Liberty-minded Americans from the left and the right are outraged. But outrage alone won’t be enough. Every single one of us must take action today. Campaign for Liberty has a three point plan to get as many senators as possible to vote against the Patriot Act: Public pressure works. Think of the agenda items that are stalled in Congress in no small part due to pressure from outraged citizens. Socialized Medicine. Big Labor’s Card Check. Gun grabbing bills. You name it; we’re beating it back. The time is now to turn our attention to stopping the Patriot Act in its tracks. The issue already became hot enough that the Senate could only muster a 60 day extension of the bill because of the threat of a Senate filibuster back in December. But now the politicians think all is clear. There is silence on this issue. Well, I think it's time for them to hear us loud and clear. Remember, the statists need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. We can and must win this fight. Please join us and help Campaign for Liberty win this fight by signing your Petition and by making a contribution today. In Liberty, John Tate President P.S.: If you and I don’t take the lead, I’m certain the Patriot Act will be renewed, and we will continue to have our freedom and our private information taken away by our government. You and I need to shine a bright spotlight on what Congress hopes will be a quiet fight. Please help Campaign for Liberty wage this fight today by signing your Liberty Petition and by making a contribution to Campaign for Liberty if you can. |
It’s pretty simple.
Conservatives in power will use the powers of the Patriot Act to defend the country from foreign enemies,
and the left in power will use the powers of the PA to pursue their political enemies.
I’m sure the Patriot Act could be revised but it is a good start to help protect this country, especially with the technology we have today. I wouldn’t want to see it taken down completely. If it’s broken, fix it. If it violates our Constitution, fix it.
Maybe its reverse psychology ... if we get a big list of conservatives to ask Obama NOT to re-authorize the Patriot Act, he’ll do it simply out of spite.
SnakeDoc
Any law that can be abused WILL be abused.
Jack
I am dead set against the patriot act. It puts the power over the citizens in the hands of petty government officials. In example:
A petty government official, with a bone to pick with me, can at his or her will record all of my phone and email conversations in the name of national security.
A petty government official, with a bone to pick with me, can at his or her will raid my home, confiscate my property, and leave me to prove my innocence, in the name of national security.
A petty government official, with a bone to pick with me, can at his or her own will take me into custody, hold me indefinatly without a hearing or legal council, in the name of national security.
Anyone who thinks this is not possible, or cannot happen here, has their head stuck in the sand.
....and to add to the mix, the renewal of the Patriot Act will be tied to the “JOBS” bill.
No. Left foot.Right foot...all headed to the same abyss.
I’m all for stopping the renewal of the Patriot Act. It was an affront to our Constitution when it was created, and it still is now.
I haven’t ever supported the “patriot” act. I didn’t support it when the Reno justice department tried to enact the same measures in the 90s, either.
It also enhances the Bank Secrecy Act (a gigantic misnomer) which requires banks to report currency transactions (sometimes as little as $3,000) to the fedguv.
I'm against it. I want it gone.
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