BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: Amos
Date: 26 Jan 08 - 11:00 AM

"he Senate (reportedly still under Democratic control) seems determined to help President Bush violate AmericansÕ civil liberties and undermine the constitutional separation of powers. Majority Leader Harry Reid is supporting White House-backed legislation that would expand the administrationÕs ability to spy on Americans without court supervision and ensure that the country never learns the full extent of Mr. BushÕs illegal wiretapping program.

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA Ñ which Mr. Bush decided to ignore after 9/11 Ñ requires a warrant to intercept telephone calls and e-mail messages between people in the United States and people abroad.

It needed updating to keep pace with technology, and the technical fixes were included in a bill that Congress passed last summer. The problem was that Mr. Bush managed to add measures that sharply undercut the courtÕs role in monitoring eavesdropping. Fortunately, lawmakers gave them an expiration date of Feb. 1.

The House has passed a reasonable new bill Ñ fixing FISA without further endangering civil liberties. But Mr. Bush wants to weaken FISA as much as he can. And the Senate leadership has been only too happy to oblige.

With the help of Republican senators and the misguided chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller, the White House got a bill that, once again, reduces court supervision of wiretapping. It also adds immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the illegal spying.

Mr. Bush says without amnesty, the government wonÕt get cooperation in the future. We donÕt buy it. The real aim is to make sure the full story of the illegal wiretapping never comes out in court."

NY Times

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 08 - 08:34 AM

And that the Senate vote on making the Bush doctrine changes to it has been delayed numerous times--last August and December.

It isn't about the sky falling DougR. It is about being able to know what the spy agencies and the executive branch are doing in our name--you know, that checks and balances thing in a document we call the US Constitution.

Considering the long, history of serious abuses by the US spy agencies, not to mention their involvement in the largest official propaganda campaign in US history which resulted in getting us into this awful, illegal war against Iraq, some citizens feel we need to stick with the constitution, not the commander-thief.

If this bill passes, no one in Congress will have the legal right to review the FISA cases and see the intelligence, unless the executive branch feels like showing it to them. Which is how the Bush administration has been running the show, de facto, and in violation of the laws of the land.

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: artbrooks
Date: 26 Jan 08 - 07:13 AM

You do understand that this is the Senate version of a bill, that the issue in contention is immunity to civil lawsuits for telephone companies that turn over records when supoenaed, and the House has already rejected a similar bill, right?

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: DougR
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 06:03 PM

"The sky continues to fall."

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 01:15 PM

Well, we might as well survey the foreign intelligence, it isn't as if we had any!

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: Peace
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 01:09 PM

It's been in the cards for a few years. It is NOT new. BUT, when we mentioned it a few years back we were told we had 'tinfoil hats'. So why a panic NOW? Fuck 'em. You trying to say that x millions of internet users can't outsmart some assholes in Washington?

Subject: RE: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 01:04 PM

Rats, this may also help get them off the hook for all domestic telephone spying they do illegally.

Subject: BS: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 12:54 PM

Here's an article on FISA. More sacrificing of liberty for "security"?

FISA