Posted on 05/11/2006 8:44:43 AM PDT by hipaatwo
A Republican senator says it's time to "find out exactly what is going on." A Democrat senator is asking, "Where does it stop?" The furor on Capitol Hill is over a U-S-A Today report that three big phone companies have turned over the records of tens of (m) millions of calls to the National Security Agency, as part of a government effort to compile a complete database of phone calls.
Chairman Arlen Specter says he wants A-T-and-T, Verizon and BellSouth to appear before his Senate Judiciary panel to explain.
The ranking Democrat on the committee, Patrick Leahy, says he's angry that Congress will, in his words, "rubber stamp" anything done by the Bush administration.
The newspaper says the program doesn't involve listening to the calls. But it reportedly does seek to track every phone call in order to identify calling patterns.
Seems that these Senators have forgotten that the Constitution gives the Federal Government the power of regulating Interstate Commerce..................
You have a ping list, don't you??
You need to use it now....this is just so much BS...and once again the damn GOP is jumping on the POTUS FIRST, instead of doing their homework!!!
My opinion might not be popular, but I'm for it.
Does not anyone else find this little leak was timed to coincide to sink Bush's nominee to head the CIA? After all, he ran the NSA. This smacks of more unofficial CIA efforts to undermine the President.
I want to know the facts. Is this true? If not, then it is a smear campaign to torpedoe the Bush nomination.
If it is true, then someone has a lot of explaining to do. Grabbing thousands (millions?) of phone records without cause is freightening.
Yep. Timing not a coinky dink...
You have a ping list, don't you??
I'll ping some people for ya :)and then maybe they'll ping their lists..K?
At this point I'm toying with turning off the puter and all the news for a few days.
...but, be assured, they'll remember when it suits their interests to do so.
Does not anyone else find this little leak was timed to coincide to sink Bush's nominee to head the CIA?
Feinstein already said today it hurts his nomination.
Well said. As someone pointed out on another thread, the phone cos have had databases with this information since their inception. Anyone with enough money can usually get their hands on this information--I think the going rate is between $50 and $100 for the records you want. This is such a non-issue, yet freepers and Republicans are in full whine mode.
It's the truth, but somewhat distorted to make it look worse than it is. Anyone can get their hands on this information--send a few bucks to certain companies, and it's yours. So why NOT the NSA? Mind you, they are NOT recording the conversations. Just looking for patterns with the numbers.
..this coming from Specter is no wonder, it could be lunch,the amount of toilet paper in his senate office,how much change is in his pocket,or why his bed sheets were shorted....he over the years has been "searching" for things to search for...he wouldn't know a clue, if it hit him square between the eyes. The scary thing is if he found anything out...he wouldn't do anything about it...or in this particular case and subject matter would only gum up the works
Doogle
Leaky clumsily consuls to win back the majority in one of the houses of Congress. House initiates spending of money so I'm betting the Democrats would prefer the House. However, the tort bar is so strong in the Senate, it's hard to put a figure on just how much money is involved in controlling the Senate. Oh my! What to do?
I think representatives from those three companies need to appear before the senate and explain that just because they put patriotism and their country's security as a high priority there is no reason for Senators like Spector, Biden, and Rockerfeller to feel jealous.
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