By Bob Barr
Neither Congress nor the White House has
proved itself capable of reaching a decision on how to begin trimming the $16.5
trillion national debt with which these two institutions have saddled the
American taxpayers. They even have been unable to come up with a reasonable
measure to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” they themselves constructed
months ago. Yet, when it comes to expanding the power of the government to spy
on American citizens without warrants, both the House and the Senate last week
fairly tripped over themselves in a rush to pass legislation doing just that;
with President Obama almost gleefully waiting to sign the bill.
The power to electronically surveill
citizens without so much as asking a judge for leave to do so, stems from 2008
amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The rapid
action by the Congress last Friday was prompted by fear that this extraordinary
power would lapse at the end of this month – forcing Uncle Sam to actually
justify its surveillance by seeking a warrant in advance of spying on citizens.
The federal government’s abject fear it
might actually have to meet the constitutional requirement of having a good
reason to eavesdrop on American citizens’ conversations before doing so,
prompted a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Congress – who can
hardly agree on the time of day right now – to come together and make sure our
intelligence agencies were not going to be hamstrung by law or the Bill of
Rights.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led
the fight for surveillance with the standard, post-911 cry that…
Source: Town Hall
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