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White House Pressures Legislators Into Gutting USA FREEDOM Act
The U.S. House of Representatives has substantially reduced the effectiveness of the USA FREEDOM Act, a surveillance reform bill that sought to end mass collection of U.S. citizens' data. House Leadership was pressured by the Obama Administration to weaken many of the bill's provisions. The EFF and the Center for Democracy & Technology had both given their backing to the bill earlier this month, but they've now withdrawn their support. CDT Senior Counsel Harley Geiger said, "The Leadership of the House is demonstrating that it wants to end the debate about surveillance, rather than end bulk collection. As amended, the bill may not prevent collection of data on a very large scale in a manner that infringes upon the privacy of Americans with no connection to a crime or terrorism. This is quite disappointing given the consensus by the public, Congress, the President, and two independent review groups that ending bulk collection is necessary."
Robyn Greene of the Open Technology Institute added, "We are especially disappointed by the weakening of the language intended to prohibit bulk collection of innocent Americans’ records. Although we are still hopeful that the bill’s language will end the bulk collection of telephone records and prevent indiscriminate collection of other types of records, it may still allow data collection on a dangerously massive scale. Put another way, it may ban ‘bulk’ collection of all records of a particular kind, but still allow for ‘bulky’ collection impacting the privacy of millions of people. Before this bill becomes law, Congress must make clear—either through amendments to the bill, through statements in the legislative record, or both—that mass collection of innocent people’s records isn’t allowed."
Robyn Greene of the Open Technology Institute added, "We are especially disappointed by the weakening of the language intended to prohibit bulk collection of innocent Americans’ records. Although we are still hopeful that the bill’s language will end the bulk collection of telephone records and prevent indiscriminate collection of other types of records, it may still allow data collection on a dangerously massive scale. Put another way, it may ban ‘bulk’ collection of all records of a particular kind, but still allow for ‘bulky’ collection impacting the privacy of millions of people. Before this bill becomes law, Congress must make clear—either through amendments to the bill, through statements in the legislative record, or both—that mass collection of innocent people’s records isn’t allowed."
For a second I thought they were "gutting" it in a good way.
How naive of me :-(
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Only the RIGHT is evil! OBAMA is our Lord and Savior! This must be a ploy by the right to make him look bad!
There is an apparent and obvious change between pre-Presidential Obama's and Presidential Obama's actions and opinions on surveillance. What's the cause? Is it:
1. Lobbying money from parties that gain from the intelligence industry?
2. Access to top secret data that still hasn't been released showing a compelling need for this information gathering?
3. Some sort of extortion/blackmail information on Obama possessed by someone in intelligence?
4. A realization that most Americans don't actually care about the scope of surveillance, so he wants to appear "tough on terror"?
5. Something else (fill in your own blank)
Recall that he stated strongly that he thought AT&T should pay a legal penalty for the NSA/San Francisco wiretapping mess, then reversed his position and supported immunity for AT&T almost immediately after taking office. That suggests he either learned whatever it was very quickly, or was deceiving us as a candidate.
-Ryan
AUWYHSTOT (Acronyms are Useless When You Have to Spell Them Out Too)
...or rise up.
Normal channels aren't working, but things aren't 'bad enough' for a sufficient number of people to do anything (yet).
I hope I get to see a peaceful revolution in my lifetime.
Pressured how? They sent lots of Emails with "RE:" in the subject title? Many phone calls were made? The people who took you to lunch chuckled at public "hysteria"? Somebody insinuated they might have the ability to strike a committee to consider, in the fullness of time, whether pork due to your constituency -- if any -- might be placed under a possible pending review?
Would the house leadership describe the "pressure" placed by the Administration as "Overwhelming", "Compelling", or merely "Gentle but Firm"? Which one of these do Legislators consider as an excuse to justify gutting the Act?
The story is BS, and pure optics. The house leadership had no intention of passing the bill ungutted.
May the Maths Be with you!
Just in case you still thought the roots of fascism came from anything other than claiming to care about those they rule over - as the news about the freedom act being gutted shows.
Liberal Fascism
Also think strongly on this the next time you do not vote Libertarian because it's a "wasted vote".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The title and summary appear to conflate House of Representatives and White House. Am I reading it wrong?
Table-ized A.I.
The House Leadership is all GOP. They've claimed that their number one priority is stopping whatever Obama wants. Mostly they've done that -- except on this one single thing, namely freedom online, they decide to roll over. So this serves as a pretty good test for both parties as to what their true priorities are.
Obama's a pretty terrible President, but when push comes to shove it's a good check-in that the reason for that is that he really wants the same things as the GOP.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
Recall that he stated strongly
Recall that he states everything strongly, often against something he stated strongly before. Therefore only pay attention to what he does and you'll see the true picture.
Extensive surveillance is not just great for catching terrorists, but finding out who is a conservative and what they are doing you can use the keep them quiet.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How is that working out?
Well, political-spectrum-wise, Obama sits right where Saint Reagan does, so this isn't all that surprising.
Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
Everything will be done by shrewd politicians to distance themselves from Obama/Obamacare etc. to appease or confuse voters (in the short and perhaps long term?) that Obama is at fault here... Meanwhile, all of them secretly never wanted to do this...
Obama will put a stop to all these Bush abuses of our rights once he's President!
When you call something by a clear propaganda slogan "USA FREEDOM ACT" as opposed to an informative act, it makes you look like a douchebag trying to hide a vile piece of crap who thinks people are too stupid to actually read the bill.
Call it something descriptive, like "Restrict Espionage Against Americans Act" and people respect it a lot more.
Yes, I'm sure their arms were twisted.
You need to get another spectrum. Yours seems to be broken.
I'm surprised how many people refuse to admit this...
Unless this law explicitly and forcefully disallows bulk warrantless data collection of the public, NSA's top creeps (like Clapper and Alexander) and unprincipled gov't lawyers (like John Yoo) most certainly will crush the Constitution underfoot at their earliest convenience.
Anything else is just rearranging deck chairs...
No. Vote Libertarian, Green Party, etc. If enough of us do this eventually it won't be a wasted vote.
No, his is correct. Republicans used to be a lot more sane than they are now. And Democrats are more sane than they used to be. Both parties moved to the right, and the Republicans went so far right as to be unrecognizable as the party of Lincoln, or even Eisenhower.
Oddly, many of the more conservative Republicans still claim to be the party of Lincoln, when really they're confederates who want to break up the US because our president isn't 100% white. They think they can take credit for Lincoln, as if the conservative takeover of the party didn't drive every progressive like Lincoln out.
The GOP has made it very, very clear that anything that Obama favors will automatically receive a negative from the House of Representatives that they control. They have done this multiple times. They have openly stated that their primary objective is to oppose Obama on everything.
Now I'm supposed to believe that Obama pressured the GOP to weaken the bill? That seems... laughable. The GOP would never bow to Obama's requests - they have their image to consider. It seems more likely that the GOP revised the bill because Obama said he supported it in its original form.
It's also strange that the mainstream press doesn't seem to have picked up on such a monumental achievement by Obama. I'd have expected that any such successful pressure from the White House on the GOP would be a major headline in most newspapers that cover US national politics. But the best we get is a press release from the Center for Democracy and Technology. The EFF also had a press release about the amendments to the bill but they don't suggest that the White House or Obama was generating any pressure for the changes.
I was in San Francisco a few months ago, and ran into a protest from 99 Rise. As best I can figure out, they're what happened to Occupy San Francisco. (this was right after the supreme court decision that allowed corporate spending on elections)
I have no idea what the other Occupy groups are doing now, but they're still out there.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
No, Obama isn't Reagan, but Obama isn't even close to being a liberal. The last real liberal president the US had was Carter.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Obama sits right where Saint Reagan does
Actually it's St. Reagan
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
All that it means is what we've known for the last twenty years or so.
It doesn't matter who is president or who is in congress.
The real power is controlled by the lobbyists for those with the most money and power.
The charade of representative democracy is wearing quite thin indeed.
Republican or Democrat, they both kowtow to the 1% and their aims.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Liberals 2008: "Bush is a liar! Obama will tell the truth!"
Liberals 2014: "All politicians lie."
By agreeing that Obama is like Reagan and claiming that Republicans used to be more sane, you seem to imply that Obama is sane too. You also claim that both parties have moved more "right" (i.e., "conservative").
Neither of these things is the case. What's actually occurred is that the President, the Republicans and the Democrats have all become much more authoritarian (and corrupt) than they used to be. They have not moved "right", they've moved up.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
How so? I've heard this claimed a few times, but there never seems to be any substance to back it up. Searching for "Obama Reagan policy comparison" just turns up a bunch of blog posts with obvious biases (of all types) and poor arguments backed up with cherry picked anecdotes and intentionally misleading data.
Knowledge Brings Fear
In the link provided shows the reaction of the CDT, where "CDT Senior Counsel Harley Geiger" states quite the opposite: "This is quite disappointing given the consensus by the public, Congress, the President, and two independent review groups that ending bulk collection is necessary"
I'm surprised how many people refuse to admit this...
Hmm...
Regan:
Reduced the number of tax brackets and substantially reduced the top marginal rate
Increased defense spending
Strongly opposed the USSR and 'damn commies' world wide
Used the cold-war arms race(including threats of the 'star wars' system) to bankrupt the USSR and remove them from 'World Power' status
Stood by Americas international allies and faced down potential threats, even if it meant American boots on the ground
Tried to unite the country with patriotism
Repeatedly took his case to the American people to get them to change the votes of their legislators(explaining his position and why it was the right thing to do)
Took a stagnant economy and promoted growth(mostly through lower taxes and consumer confidence)
Obama:
Tax increases on 'the wealthiest Americans' to pay for various programs(including ACA)
Is pumping money into the stock market(either to hide the state of the economy or pay-off contributors, not sure which)
Is standing by while Putin re-builds the USSR
Draws 'red lines' or promotes hash-tags whenever there is something bad happening, but does not back them up.
Puts American diplomats in harms way to prove terrorism is gone, then blames a video when the terrorists show they are not gone
Tries to divide the country with racism(Rev. Al Sharpton; New Black Panthers; Prof. Gates; etc)
Repeatedly changed laws passed by the house and senate by either refusing to enforce them(border/immigration; Black Panther voter intimidation) or delaying enforcement(ACA) under his own authority
Repeatedly lied about his signature legislation to protect it from being seen for what it is.
Took a growing economy and promoted stagnation(mostly through uncertainty and higher taxes intermingled with one time give-aways to buy votes)
Admittedly, they both promoted growth in the stock market, even if Regan did it through growth and Obama is doing it through government backed bonds.
Aside from that, I just do not see it.
"libertarian vs. authoritarian" is the spectrum you're looking for.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Obama is to the right of Republicans on this.
As a tea party guy, I support Obama on this one!
I am not joking.
The US government should shrink and spend less of my tax money on reading my emails.
Except that Reagan basically did none of those things. He raised taxes, increased spending across the board, used divisivness to create political capital, struck deals with internal Russian forces to get economic advantages within the Russian sphere of influence, was very selective about where the boots on ground had the most economic interest impact, deregulated for an illusion of economic health, and used fear of communisim to enact state-expanding laws.
it's a question of who is in power vs. who is not in power. When Obama was a Senator he was against mass surveillance (and Guantanamo for that matter) but when he gets in power he sees things differently. Same thing would have happened if Romney or McCain got elected.
The problem is that to ascend to those levels you have to make so many deals with big business and assorted money men. Then when you get in power they are all knocking at your door looking for favors.
The American government has brainwashed it's citizens into believing that there is an actual "terrorist" threat (whatever the hell that means) and that the only way to contain it is to collect information on everyone. Bullshit. You want "terrorists" to leave us alone? Then stop taking sides in the Middle East conflict. The US has, and will always be, strongly Pro-Israel. At the same time, they present themselves as mediators. How can a country be a mediator when it is so clearly in favor of one side over the other?
The United Nations has looked into it and passed numerous sanctions against Israel, mainly concerning the occupied territories and the continuing settlement building. All of them are ignored.
to have the legislators gutted instead?
I predict the "Surveillance Singularity" is near.
That will happen when the party in office reaches the capability to completely manipulate opponents, the media and citizens through intel gained via NSA surveillance tools like PRISM. At that point, the last party shift will occur at the presidency, then congress and the supreme court will align to whichever party holds that office.
Sad times are ahead if we cannot change this road before us.
www.facebook.com/DareDefendOurRights
www.fairtax.org
The reason is the guy is a PUPPET! Just like Bush was and like Clinton and Bush before him. Our congress is controller by big money and corporations. Voting is useless! You are given TWO choices - Dickhead 1 or Dickhead 2 - pick your Dickhead - both have already been "tampered" with. Our whole political system has been compromised. It's all nothing but a bag of dicks! Once you have understood this you will KNOW what is going on....
The Truth is a Virus!!!
This is what makes modern day slashdot worthless. Reading through 100+ comments of misinformed libertarian ranting screaming that "Obama betrayyyyyyyyyyyeeeeed ussss!!!!!" Except the EFF document says absolutely nothing about who was pressuring who to do what, much less tell the other side of the story, which also might be interesting to read.
You do realize that those crazy tea partiers who "don't have such good ideas" are also screaming about the surveillance state?
Say what you want about other positions they hold, but the simple truth is they are as anti-mass-surveillance as anyone here. Especially considering they were directly targeted by another mass surveillance entity - the IRS - just for having unpopular political views.
You don't like them. Fine. But when it's your turn on the mill wheel (nobody is safe from a too-powerful government; it will always need people to persecute), you will regret not reaching out to anyone who could have helped stop it from turning your way.
Hang together or hang apart. It's an old notion we've lost, and I think it suggests we've lost some wisdom over the years. Success of our republic does not mean we all agree, it means we work with those whom we disagree to do some common things. And because the number of things we agree upon might be small, it limits what the government can do against us. In this case, we see the Tea Party types and the liberal types agree that snarfing up this data and spying on the people of the USA is a Bad Thing(tm) that needs to stop.
But we won't get there if we keep calling each other crazy. Your willingness to "other" the tea party means you have reduced those who oppose the mass surveillance state into a bunch of small faction groups: yours, theirs, etc. Again, you will some day regret not joining voices on at least this one issue and stopping it cold.
Disclosure: never been to a tea party event and don't consider myself part of that label. But I do see value in working with others on the things we agree.
Obligatory xkcd. Look at the House since 1992.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes