30 December 2012
“America, the greatest losses to our freedom have not come from someone attacking us,
but from the government ignoring the Constitution
and the majority letting them get away with it.”
~Judge Andrew Napolitano
“Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be”
~James Baldwin
Related: Congress Extends FISA Wiretapping Act To 2017; Awaits Obama’s Signature
…Before Friday’s vote, the 2012 FISA extension faced several attempts to amend it, including one made by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who sought to require the director of national intelligence to share information about telephone and email surveillance — how many Americans have been monitored, for instance, or whether communications between Americans is reviewed.
The Wyden amendment was rejected by a 52-43 vote, an indication of the contentiousness surrounding the bill’s granting of intelligence-gathering powers. The amendment had bipartisan support that included Democratic Sens. Al Franken and Patty Murray and Republican Sens. Dean Heller and Pat Toomey, among others.
But the measure also faced bipartisan opposition. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the ranking members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke against the Wyden amendment, with Feinstein saying it would expose “information about a very effective intelligence collection program that is currently classified.” She added that the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees already review all of the material…
Trust me. I’m a Senator.
Also, Senator Rand Paul: Overcriminalization Champion
Since he was sworn into the Senate in 2011, Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) has consistently fought against overcriminalization, a term used to describe the use of criminal penalties to punish morally blameless conduct. Conduct that was not a crime in the past—and perhaps not a violation of any law—is now punished with time in prison.
Senator Paul has spent his time in the Senate educating people on the issue of overcriminalization, blocking legislation with overcriminalization elements, and proposing solutions to the overcriminalization problem. Paul should be applauded for his efforts…
Read the whole thing.