House Votes to Renew Surveillance Law, Rejecting New Privacy Limits

Post by ataturk » Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 9:13 PM UTC

cmiles74 wrote: post #101

iaw wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was no effort to dismantle the wiretapping... * Bush implemented surveillance of citizens in response to 9/11 * Obama continued to support this program after it was revealed by Edward Snowden * Now there's Trump

Personally, this was one of my biggest disappointments from the Obama administration. Before he became president, he was critical of the Patriot Act and seemed legitimately concerned[0]. After election he signed a four year renewal[1]. [0]: http://obamaspeeches.com/041-The-PATRIOT-Act-Obama-Speech.ht... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_on_mass_surveilla...

Post by kmonsen » Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 9:25 PM UTC

Clanan wrote: post #90

Someone1234 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just phase it this way: Imagine if the party in power used state surveillance to monitor their opponent and the people who support them. The whole infrastructure is turn-key authoritarian, there's literally nothing logistical stopping this, only a handshake agreement not to. This should concern people regardless of their political affiliation or party loyalty.

There's now substantial evidence that this is exactly what happened with the Obama administration and Trump's campaign. The former used an unverified dossier as an excuse to begin surveillance via FISA. So this isn't even a theoretical issue. Before anyone grabs a pitchfork, focus on the issue at hand and not the current politics. Doesn't matter who's in the White House - friend or foe, would you want them to have th…

Post by cavanasm » Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 9:29 PM UTC

cryptonector wrote: post #88

brewdad wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The day Trump starts vetoing bills sent to his desk is the day 25th Amendment proceedings hit full stride.

Can you explain? (I don't mean the 25th Amendment.)

Post by cryptonector » Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 9:50 PM UTC

cavanasm wrote: post #115

cryptonector wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain? (I don't mean the 25th Amendment.)

I believe parent post means that Republicans will stop protecting Trump the instant Trump decides not to pass their legislation, since they have control of Congress, and Mike Pence is an establishment dream president.

Post by ep103 » Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

CWuestefeld wrote: post #112

bgentry wrote: post #41

55 House Democrats, including Pelosi, voted against the USA Rights Act amendment that would have substantially limited the surveillance against US citizens. 65 House Democrats ultimately voted in favor of this bill and giving the Trump admin more unchecked surveillance powers. https://twitter.com/gzornick/status/951501089047764992 http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2018/roll016.xml

Every time this comes up, I'm again surprised how many people expect that Democrats will somehow have better policy for privacy. Folks, it ain't so. The Democrats won't protect us in this regard any more than the Republicans will.