Posted on 08/23/2003 5:06:41 PM PDT by CtPoliticsGuy
In the name of fighting terrorism a new kind of government is being implemented in Washington, D.C. We are witnessing the birth of a powerful multi-billion dollar surveillance lobby consisting of an army of special interest groups, Washington lawyers, lobbyists, and high-tech firms with wares to sell.
The personal rights of American citizens, protected until now by the Bill of Rights, are the farthest thing from their minds as they seek to fill their pockets while enabling government to monitor and control our lives to a degree unheard of prior to September 11, 2001. This army seeks riches as it pushes for laws and regulations to spy on and control the lives of law-abiding Americans.
The Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) reports that there are more than 100 federal entities involved in forging the largest conglomeration of government-private contractor interests since the creation of the Pentagon. GEIA represents hundreds of corporate members seeking to cash in on the Homeland Security-citizen-surveillance-spending spree.
GEIA told the news media that the "needed technologies include those providing digital surveillance, data mining, advanced encryption, smart cards, censors and early warning and profiling tools." In September 2002, dozens of major high tech companies formed the "Homeland Security Industries Association". A key objective of the association is to win a piece of the action for the creation of national ID cards for travelers.
The November 25 edition of Business Week reported that the SAS Institute is among many corporations scrambling to launch a whole new line of anti-money laundering software designed to help insurance companies, investment banks and brokerage firms spy on their clients' financial activities on behalf of the government in compliance with the Patriot Act.
According to Bert Ely, the head of a consulting company for financial institutions, the new anti-money laundering provisions of the Patriot Act will do nothing to stop the financing of international terrorists. At best, he says, the new provisions will actually provide evil doers with a road map to avoid detection.
What the new Patriot Act provisions are really about, says Ely, is to have the United States fall into line with an international campaign being waged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Financial Action Task Force against countries that serve as tax havens. The newly enacted regulations are being applied in the name of fighting terrorism, but are really about a different agenda.
In mid-September 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Homeland Security held an exposition in Washington. Medium and small firms from across the nation were invited in to showcase the very latest in citizen surveillance wares. This tradeshow and others like it have attracted hundreds of corporations who've shown their high-tech products to top government planners responsible for creating and implementing new restrictions on privacy in the name of "national security."
(Excerpt) Read more at dondodd.com ...
Failure to search equals duplicate posts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.