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The day this gets passed is the day I go cash basis on everything. My paycheck gets deposited (the IRS has this info anyway), then I withdraw the needed funds in cash and pay for everything in cash or money orders. Nothing of mine will ever again make it into the system.

They want to treat me like a Soviet citizen, I'll act like one. I'll be surreptitious with the best of them. It'll inconvenience me, but I'll adjust. Although I have nothing to hide, they won't have a chance to know that. They'll just have to wonder why I dropped off the radar all of a sudden.

I support the war on terrorism 100%, as far as the apprehension and/or liquidation of terrorists and their supporters goes. However, I'll not ever support anything GWB does, ever again, if he signs the law containing these provisions. Who would then care if the Dems win the next election -- still a totalitarian state, under a different caretaker. I'd rather die than live under it.

Kind of an irony. I went "cash basis" for a decade simply to avoid IRS scrutiny, so now I'm almost feeling ahead of the curve. I've only been "back in the system" for 3 years, and now I have to look at returning to my old ways.

But I didn't even deposit the paycheck - I went to the effort to cash it somewhere, because I didn't even want them knowing how many withdrawls I was making or for how much. The paper trail ended there.

The bright spot is that we can own precious metals. If this goes on I forsee a thriving "informal" economy one day based on barter and metals exchange, bypass the paper chase entirely.

The other way to protect your privacy is to keep your files off the main computer, keep the computer OFF whenever possible, invest in a personal firewall and 128k encryption, and - maybe - even switch away from the "mainstream" operating system. I did a Windows Update on my Win2K Pro box at the office, to find that 19 of the 23 updates it wanted to perform were security patches. At home I use a Mac with OS X, which has the added advantage of being about 100 times less prone to virus attacks.

I'm concerned that Mssrs Ashcroft and Poindexter will be knocking on Bill Gates' door very soon, asking to take advantage of the gaping security holes that everyone already knows are in his OS'es, to achieve their agenda - and he'll give them anything they want in exchange for maintenence of his empire.