Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act

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Terrik

Terrik

From the AP:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the nation's main counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act.
Provisions in the measure would have expired on Sunday without Obama's signature Saturday.
The act, which was adopted in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, expands the government's ability to monitor Americans in the name of national security.
Three sections of the Patriot Act that stay in force will:
_Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones.
_Allow court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations.
_Permit surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.
Obama's signature comes after the House voted 315 to 97 Thursday to extend the measure.
The Senate also approved the measure, with privacy protections cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Thrown away were restrictions and greater scrutiny on the government's authority to spy on Americans and seize their records.
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Interesting....
 
Rob King

Rob King

Well, to be fair it doesn't sound like the entire act was renewed. Just parts of it. And the parts listed in the OP's quote sounded pretty reasonable.
 
S

Soliloquy

Yeah, those three provisions do seem reasonable, though I would like to see the entire bill, just to make sure...
 
S

Soliloquy

Hmmm... doesn't look like there was anything that wasn't renewed. From what I can tell from my searching the web, it was just those three provisions that were set to expire, and they extended them without any amendments. So far, then, the Patriot Act continues unchanged.

So I guess the question is... what does "court-approved" mean? Does that mean they need a warrant? or is there some other bizarre definition of "court-approved" that they use, which infringes on our rights?
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

They do need a warrant, but courts hand those out like candy anyway so it's not any real obstacle. Besides... you deny the Feds a warrant in your jurisdiction, they simply stop co-operating with you and your life suddenly gets a lot harder.
 
Espy

Espy

Ah... the smell of change...


But on a more serious note, I'm disappointed. I had hoped this might go away under his administration.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Espy said:
Ah... the smell of change...


But on a more serious note, I'm disappointed. I had hoped this might go away under his administration.
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It's never going to go away until we have a significant enough abuse of it that it upsets one of the parties. As it is, both support it. You want to see it go away? Have the Feds use it against Rush Limbaugh unjustly. It'll be revoked within a year.
 
Espy

Espy

I thought the dems WERE significantly upset about it. Maybe I misunderstood what all those protests and constant railing against Bush over it were really about. Was it over the "Papyrus Act"? :p
 
K

Kitty Sinatra

Fucking Papyrus Act, making me jump through hoops just so I can eat my favorite fruit.
 
S

Soliloquy

Espy said:
I thought the dems WERE significantly upset about it. Maybe I misunderstood what all those protests and constant railing against Bush over it were really about. Was it over the "Papyrus Act"? :p
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You kidding? The Democrats loved it! It gave them something to protest and rally about!
 
Math242

Math242

Yes we can
yes we can but it takes time
yes we should
yes we should have been able to but unfortunately real politics don't work like that?
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

The Patriot Act is one of the greatest blemishes on our own record of civil liberties that we've had in recent history.

It may not compare to the status quo in China, naturally, but the Patriot Act has made it ridiculously simple for federal and state agencies to violate your civil rights and privacy in the name of "terrorism".

Even attempts to leave the measures in place but add more oversight got overturned. :mad:
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Ugh.

A policy that even a huge chunk of Republicans thought was unwarranted and against the spirit of this country can't get overturned? I imagine there may have been a great deal of push from law enforcement sectors too comfortable with their new freedoms behind this.
 
S

Soliloquy

You gotta admit, though... the patriot act was a pretty big thing that everyone hoped would change.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Krisken said:
Yup. If everything doesn't change, then nothing changes.
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Just stirrin' the pot!

But seriously, I didn't vote for McCain or Obama. I didn't vote for McCain b/c I thought he would be too similar to Bush. I actually wanted some real change. I suppose extending this program another year isn't that big of a deal, but man, do you not remember the cries from the left about how awful this program was when it was introduced? I think the Patriot Act is extremely dangerous. I am glad that it can be dropped if we can get a President that will get rid of it. I don't want any government with this kind of power.
 
S

Soliloquy

drawn_inward said:
But seriously, I didn't vote for McCain or Obama.
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Well, I didn't vote at all! HA!

I'm not actually proud of that, But I was in London, I was extremely busy pretty much all the time, had unreliable internet access that prevented me from researching the candidates, and I doubted my own judgment after the influence of my Ultra-Neo-Conservative parents convinced me to vote for Bush in 2004.

So, yeah... that's my excuse.
 
Krisken

Krisken

I understand that drawn_inward. I find almost everything about the Patriot Act (catchy, I have to admit) pretty deplorable. I'm just glad my disappointments so far don't outnumber my approvals. Still 3 more years for that chance.
 
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