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Technical Risks of the US Protect America Act
A group of respected security researchers has released a paper on the security holes that would be opened up if a broad warrantless wiretapping law is passed. The subject could hardly be more timely, as Congress is debating the subject now. Steve Bellovin, Matt Blaze, Whit Diffie, Susan Landau, Peter Neumann, and Jennifer Rexford have released a preprint of Risking Communications Security: Potential Hazards of the Protect America Act (PDF), which will appear in the January/February 2008 issue of IEEE Security and Privacy. It will hit the stands in a few weeks. From Matt Blaze's blog posting: "As someone who began his professional carrier in the Bell System (and who stayed around through several of its successors), the push for telco immunity represents an especially bitter disillusionment for me. Say what you will about the old Phone Company, but respect for customer privacy was once a deeply rooted point of pride in the corporate ethos. There was no faster way to be fired (or worse) than to snoop into call records or facilitate illegal wiretaps, well intentioned or not. And it was genuinely part of the culture; we believed in it, even those of us ordinarily disposed toward a skeptical view of the official company line. Now it all seems like just another bit of cynical, focus-group-tested PR."
If you do call your senators for this or any reason, remember to be polite, courteous, yet let your convictions come through and without directly threatening to vote them out of office, be very firm(while being polite and courteous) that their position on this matter will weigh heavily on the choice you make in the next election. Also, NEVER EVER EVER STATE THAT YOU DID NOT VOTE FOR THEM. If you didn't, then don't lie unless you want to be lowered to their level, just don't bring up who you did vote for. Saying you didn't vote for them makes them even less likely to give a damn what you have to say.
Patriot - A fan of expanding government power and spending while not wanting to pay higher taxes.
More recent information about U.S. government debt:
U.S. Government Debt Graph (2007 Budget data) (Good for a quick view.)
U.S. Government Debt Clock
U.S. Government Debt
The law that established FISA isn't going to expire; only the Protect America Act. What's the difference? It's the Protect America Act that allows the wiretapping without warrants of people "reasonably believed to be outside the United States." What happens if it expires? Theoretically, they'll again need to get warrants for when they want to wiretap people, which they can do up to 72 hours after they've done initiated the wiretap. But it's not like the whole system is going to shut down. FISA has been on the books since 1978 and isn't going anywhere.
You forgot the signing statements. The president signing a bill from Congress into law, but declaring he won't follow portions or the entire thing.
You're nothing; like me.
Actually, the wiretap act was not passed until 1968. The stuff AT&T did in Bamford's book was LEGAL at the time.