If Democrats really feared Donald Trump's exercise of the powers of the presidency, why would they propose extending the surveillance powers of the controversial Patriot Act?
This relatively innocuous language pushes back the sunset provision of the Patriot Act by three months, leaving its vast powers in the hands of a president who Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden charges with "Failure to uphold basic democratic principles," who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused of "Alarming connections and conduct with Russia" and, joined by Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, says is making an attempt to "Shred the Constitution."
The American Civil Liberties Union agrees, calling the Patriot Act "An overnight revision of the nation's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court."
The alleged authorship of the original surveillance proposal provides a helpful hint as to why Democrats might be so eager to extend expansive surveillance power, even for a president they say they despise: They had a hand in its creation.
Whether or not Biden really authored what became the Patriot Act, he and many of his fellow Democrats certainly take pride of ownership and show plenty of enthusiasm for its powers.
This year's proposed reauthorization of the Patriot Act isn't exactly a one-off; last year, donkey party leaders kneecapped an effort in the House by dissident libertarian-leaning Republicans and liberal Democrats to roll back some of the more intrusive elements of the Patriot Act.
"The most bizarre aspect of this spectacle was that the Democrats who most aggressively defended Trump's version of the surveillance bill-the Democrats most eager to preserve Trump's spying powers as virtually limitless-were the very same Democratic House members who have become media stars this year by flamboyantly denouncing Trump as a treasonous, lawless despot in front of every television camera they could find."
https://reason.com/2019/11/20/giving-government-vast-snooping-authority-is-one-thing-democrats-and-republicans-both-like/
This relatively innocuous language pushes back the sunset provision of the Patriot Act by three months, leaving its vast powers in the hands of a president who Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden charges with "Failure to uphold basic democratic principles," who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused of "Alarming connections and conduct with Russia" and, joined by Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, says is making an attempt to "Shred the Constitution."
The American Civil Liberties Union agrees, calling the Patriot Act "An overnight revision of the nation's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court."
The alleged authorship of the original surveillance proposal provides a helpful hint as to why Democrats might be so eager to extend expansive surveillance power, even for a president they say they despise: They had a hand in its creation.
Whether or not Biden really authored what became the Patriot Act, he and many of his fellow Democrats certainly take pride of ownership and show plenty of enthusiasm for its powers.
This year's proposed reauthorization of the Patriot Act isn't exactly a one-off; last year, donkey party leaders kneecapped an effort in the House by dissident libertarian-leaning Republicans and liberal Democrats to roll back some of the more intrusive elements of the Patriot Act.
"The most bizarre aspect of this spectacle was that the Democrats who most aggressively defended Trump's version of the surveillance bill-the Democrats most eager to preserve Trump's spying powers as virtually limitless-were the very same Democratic House members who have become media stars this year by flamboyantly denouncing Trump as a treasonous, lawless despot in front of every television camera they could find."
https://reason.com/2019/11/20/giving-government-vast-snooping-authority-is-one-thing-democrats-and-republicans-both-like/
No comments:
Post a Comment