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All that stuff is available to the government (and many others) now.

It is not. Private-sector financial transaction information that is currently provided to the feds consists of cash transactions at finanical institutions in excess of $10,000. The Patriot Act expanded that provision to include ANY business transaction in any form or currency with a value in excess of $10,000. The implementation of that provision has been postponed because the vast majority of businesses in this country were unaware it existed. That is the current state of reporting of financial data to the feds. I have worked in the financial sector for the last eight years, so I am somewhat familiar with this subject.

If the government wants to know what transactions have occurred on a credit card, don't think they can't find it. Remember the credit card transactions discussed when they were searching for the D.C. area sniper? Just because they don't examine every person's transactions now doesn't mean they can't. And even with this database, they won't be examining every person's transactions. They just won't have time.