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Obama wants to re-up Patriot Acts

Started by Jenne, September 16, 2009, 07:57:52 PM

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Jenne

aka "THIS SUCKS ASS"  :argh!:

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/the_obama_administration_wants_congress.php

QuoteSep 15 2009, 2:10 pm by Marc Ambinder

Obama Embraces Patriot Act; As Senator, He Was Skeptical
The Obama administration wants Congress to reauthorize three controversial provisions of the 2001 USA Patriot Act scheduled to expire later this year, but said in a letter to two senators that it is open to adding (unspecified) civil liberties safeguards.  The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the sunsetting provisions next week and wants to consider broader reforms. Five months ago, it asked the administration for its views; just yesterday, the administration responded.  Some of the changes to the law Barack Obama sought as a senator -- including modifications to the administrative subpoena power known as National Security Letters -- are not part of the corpus of his views today.



In a letter to Sens. Russ Feingold and Dick Durbin (Durbin-Feingold 091409.pdf), assistant attorney general Ronald Welch, the chief DOJ liaison to Congress, said that the administration supports the so-called "roving wiretap" provision, which allows the government to continue surveilling terrorism suspect under a single wiretap warrant even if the suspect changes the medium of communication.  According to Weich, the administration will not authorize such a warrant unless it has "specific" evidence that the suspect is actively working to avoid detection by authorities. About 22 such wiretaps are authorized every year. "We believe the basic justification offered to Congress in 2001 remains valid today," Weich writes.


The administration also wants Congress to reauthorize the provision extending the ability of the FBI to request detailed business records under a FISA warrant. According to the government, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court has issued about 220 orders to produce such records in 2004, and the Justice Department asserts that they have provided investigators with critical information -- although they say the specifics are classified. Weich writes: "It is noteworthy that no recipient of a FISA business records order has ever challenged the validity of the order, despite the availability, since 2006, of a clear statutory mechanism to do so."


Finally, the administration wants Congress to keep the so-called "lone wolf" provision in place, which allows them to conduct surveillance of a terrorism suspect even if they don't know what country that person is acting on behalf of -- if any.  According to Weich , "the Government must know a great deal about the target, including the target's purpose and plans for terrorist activity (in order to satisfy the defmition of "international terrorism"), but still be unable to connect the individual to any group that meets the FISA definition of a foreign power."


Weich notes that Feingold and Durbin "may propose modifications to provide additional protection for the privacy of law abiding Americans."  He quotes President Obama's speech to the National Archives to demonstrate, he says, the "willingness" to consider such ideas, provided that they do not undermine the effectiveness of these important authorities."

As a senator, Obama co-signed a letter (sdaasd.pdf) supporting broad reforms of the Patriot Act, including a requirement that, in order to obtain business records, "the government should be required to convince a judge that the records they are seeking have some connection to a suspected terrorist or spy, as the three-part standard in the Senate bill would mandate."   The letter also supports the sunsetting of the controversial National Security Letters provision, which allows the FBI to request "sensitive personal information simply by certifying that the information is sought for a terrorism or espionage investigation."  The letter Obama co-signed includes this statement: "This would allow government fishing expeditions targeting innocent Americans. As business groups have argued, the government should be required to certify that the person whose records are sought has some connection to a suspected terrorist or spy."


When Congress reauthorized the bill in 2006, it included several modifications that were requested by these senators, including a some limits on the NSL authority, an exemption for libraries, and a less restrictive gag order on those entities receiving letters demanding information. Obama was one of 89 senators to support the bill.

Senators, including the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Carl Levin, point to news that the FBI repeatedly misused the National Security Letter power as evidence that the Act needs broader reform. And there remain questions about whether the Justice Department continues to support Bush-era signing statements that seemed to go around Congress's intent in narrowing the categories of people who could be targeted by the new law.  Another big concern: the Investigative Data Warehouse maintained by the FBI, which collects and stores records on thousands of Americans; what the data includes is unclear; how many Americans are part of the database is unclear; the safeguards in place to prevent abuse is also unclear. 

Cain

Its worth noting Ambinder always spins increases in state power with unspecified caveats about rules to prevent their misuse.  Meaning you shouldn't put any stock in the few comforting words in this otherwise quite disheartening piece.

The Good Reverend Roger

I hate to say it, but Cain and I warned you.

Just kidding.  I don't hate to say it.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

fomenter

the cynical are right again.... yay for us ...or :horrormirth:
"So she says to me, do you wanna be a BAD boy? And I say YEAH baby YEAH! Surf's up space ponies! I'm makin' gravy... Without the lumps. HAAA-ha-ha-ha!"


hmroogp

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: fomenter on September 16, 2009, 09:57:05 PM
the cynical are right again.... yay for us ...or :horrormirth:

We usually are.

TGRR,
Knows optimism is a disease.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

fomenter

after all the obama talk around the election i was getting worried i was doing myself physical harm from the constant rolling my eyes..
"So she says to me, do you wanna be a BAD boy? And I say YEAH baby YEAH! Surf's up space ponies! I'm makin' gravy... Without the lumps. HAAA-ha-ha-ha!"


hmroogp

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: fomenter on September 16, 2009, 10:03:07 PM
after all the obama talk around the election i was getting worried i was doing myself physical harm from the constant rolling my eyes..

Well, there's bad, and there's worse.

As horrible as The Smiler is turning out to be, it beats the hell out of a Palin presidency.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

fomenter

i would tell you i think Palin was to stupid to ever have a chance but ..... cynical.....
"So she says to me, do you wanna be a BAD boy? And I say YEAH baby YEAH! Surf's up space ponies! I'm makin' gravy... Without the lumps. HAAA-ha-ha-ha!"


hmroogp

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: fomenter on September 16, 2009, 10:13:11 PM
i would tell you i think Palin was to stupid to ever have a chance but ..... cynical.....

Of course she would.  Hell, the moonbats have finally stopped crowing about her "kicking Obama's ass in 2012".

And they aren't happy about being woken up.  Oh, no.  You can still get a good rise out of them, if you say the right things.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Requia ☣

Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

The Good Reverend Roger

There's gambling going on here?

[/Claude Rains]
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

fomenter

i do take a perverse pleasure watching all that youthful optimism and "belief in change" being squashed like a bug under the feet of politics as usual.

sadly all the new cynics it creates are still out numbered by the true believersTM and the next crop of young optimists
"So she says to me, do you wanna be a BAD boy? And I say YEAH baby YEAH! Surf's up space ponies! I'm makin' gravy... Without the lumps. HAAA-ha-ha-ha!"


hmroogp

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: fomenter on September 16, 2009, 10:29:21 PM
i do take a perverse pleasure watching all that youthful optimism and "belief in change" being squashed like a bug under the feet of politics as usual.

sadly all the new cynics it creates are still out numbered by the true believersTM and the next crop of young optimists

Which just means the fun will keep rolling on.   :lulz:
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Rococo Modem Basilisk

I hate to say it, but maybe we actually would have been better with McCain / Palin. They would be too dumb to be devious.


I am not "full of hate" as if I were some passive container. I am a generator of hate, and my rage is a renewable resource, like sunshine.

fomenter

Quote from: Enki v. 2.0 on September 17, 2009, 12:07:14 AM
I hate to say it, but maybe we actually would have been better with McCain / Palin. They would be too dumb to be devious.
:lulz: :lulz:  

nope not getting it
"So she says to me, do you wanna be a BAD boy? And I say YEAH baby YEAH! Surf's up space ponies! I'm makin' gravy... Without the lumps. HAAA-ha-ha-ha!"


hmroogp