[Reagan Man]

I don't have the exact numbers. You tell me.

[Liberal Classic]

That's a good question. I don't know exact figures, either, but my sense is that the majority of the time when the government assumes some authority it does not relinquish it easily.

We are still operating under many of the emergency programs enacted by FDR in the 30s, such as the powers of the Secretery of Agriculture to buy tons of produce to manipulate the market. The the minimum wage was started as an emergency measure, also. Likewise the federal imcome tax was started as a war tax that never went away.

If federal law enforcement officers are given new powers to spy on us, what are the chances that those powers will be taken away once the war on the Base is over? I do not believe that any provisions of the Patriot Act will ever be repealed.