[mrsmith]

"snuck into PATRIOT "

They weren't "snuck" into the Patriot Act. They had been kicked around Washington for years as others have pointed out. The Patriot Act was almost exactly the same as a bill introduced at the beginning of the congress by Sensenbrenner. And anybody who even nonchalantly followed the bill knew the money laundering laws in it were added from a separate bill.

I wish they had kept the bill just to anti-terrorism, but it was known at the time they didn't. Of course the media didn't provide good coverage, just simplistic and sensationalist 'reporting'.

[NJ_gent]

"They weren't "snuck" into the Patriot Act."

Funny - how many Congressmen came out and said that the Act dropped on their desks in the middle of the night before the vote bore little resemblence to the one that had been debated? How many pages did the act grow from what had been debated to what was actually voted on? What was it - five or ten times the number of pages? How many have since come out and said they regretted voting for something they didn't have time to read? How many have come out to say they're shocked at some of the stuff that made it into PATRIOT? In any case, putting non-critical stuff into a critical, must-pass bill so that you can avoid having that stuff debated is a slimy tactic that frankly ought to disqualify someone for public office in my opinion. That's a scummy tactic often done with intelligence bills and critical spending bills - things people cannot vote down regardless of what else is tacked on at the last second.