Glad to see someone has finally written a coherent article on the big picture here. While a ton of information and hysteria is being generated about TIA, that IMO is a relatively minor problem, as the laws that prohibit the data gathering envisioned by Poindexter will be very difficult to change, and the entire project would require re-engineering every point of sale system operated by businesses in the country - that would cost billions of dollars and would be an IT project on the scale of the Y2K preparations. Plus, the system would be so complex that it could never work in real-time.
IMO the bigger opportunities for governmental snooping are mentioned here - mandating GPS tracking for vehicles and implantible ID requirements for individuals, along with using drones over the United States as a somewhat less significant threat. These would be easy to implement compared to TIA and would probably face less resistance from elected officials and many citizens, especially since the use of GPS tracking could be tied to taxation, as Oregon wishes to do.