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House panel withheld document on NSA surveillance program from members
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A letter drafted by the Obama administration specifically to inform Congress of the government’s mass collection of Americans’ telephone communications data was withheld from lawmakers by leaders of the House Intelligence Committee in the months before a key vote affecting the future of the program.
And then there's this.
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A spokeswoman for the House committee, Susan Phalen, declined to say whether the panel had voted to withhold the letter or if the decision was made by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).
Here's a link to the entire article which I suggest reading because this may blow up in to something bigger soon.
People don't understand that the "beast" must always be fed and over time it must be fed more and more.
Yep. Municipal corps cannot get enough money, so-called power or control. Some are just growing in dark places at a faster rate.
Truly it is a travesty that so much energy is used for such purposes when there are so many more pressing matters for which it could be used.
I never thought I'd say this, but the wife and I are actually considering SA as well. Argentina, Ecuador, or Chile. It's a win-win; the southern hemisphere has less than 10% of the worlds pollution. The equator acts as a natural barrier. It's hard to believe our country is being "changed" for the worse, so quickly.
Apparently, the IRS has concerns about this.
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Originally Posted by CDusr
Well apparently the IRS is concerned since they recently buried a provision in a 2012 bill that yanks passports for delinquent taxes. Apparently no due process is needed just the IRS's word.
“Because the letter by itself did not fully explain the programs, the Committee offered classified briefings, open to all Members of Congress, that not only covered all of the material in the letter but also provided much more detail in an interactive format with briefers available to fully answer any Members’ questions,†Phalen wrote in an e-mail. “The discussion of the letter not being distributed is a side issue intended to give the false impression that Congress was denied information. That is not the case.â€
“Because the letter by itself did not fully explain the programs, the Committee offered classified briefings, open to all Members of Congress, that not only covered all of the material in the letter but also provided much more detail in an interactive format with briefers available to fully answer any Members’ questions,†Phalen wrote in an e-mail. “The discussion of the letter not being distributed is a side issue intended to give the false impression that Congress was denied information. That is not the case.â€
Let's make that "interactive format" presentation public so we can see for ourselves if it was unbiased. Also, I find Susan Phalen's comments disingenuous because the members of the House and their staff should have been given copies of the original document before being asked to vote on something as important as the USA PATRIOT Act.
I'm getting the feeling that Representative Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who is a former FBI agent, had an agenda to maintain the Surveillance State despite the fact that the FISA Court itself is of the opinion that what the NSA is doing is unconstitutional. Rep. Mike Rogers should step down as the head of the House Intelligence Committee if for no other reason than he betrayed the public trust for the sake of expediency. If he doesn't then much worse may happen to him when the public demands new Senate hearings of the kind not seen since the Church Committee of the 1970's. Keep an eye on this folks because it's going to get very ugly very soon.
Can we really consider the United States a first-world country any longer when the rule of law means nothing?
Here's an incredible quote from the article: James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, has acknowledged that the court found the NSA in breach of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, but the Obama administration has fought a Freedom of Information lawsuit that seeks the opinion.
Me and the lovely Mrs. Grizzmeister are thinking about moving down to Ecuador because the citizens of the US our too timid to demand that their government uphold The Bill of Rights.
Obama campaigned on transparency perhaps more than any other president in our history and yet has not only failed on this, has been decidedly and often chosen to be against transparency.
Obama campaigned on transparency perhaps more than any other president in our history and yet has not only failed on this, has been decidedly and often chosen to be against transparency.
President Obama needs to be reminded that he is our nation's chief executive and not our king.
Given how dishonest Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-Mich.) and others who were trusted to oversee the US Intelligence Agencies are I see no other choice than to demand serious Congressional oversight. Apparently, many conscientious people are starting to agree.
Lawbreaking at the NSA: Bring On a New Church Committee
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The time is ripe for a new Church Committee, the surveillance oversight effort named for Senator Frank Church, who oversaw a mid-1970s investigation into decades of jaw-dropping abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. If recent stories about the NSA don't alarm you, odds are that you've never read the Church Committee findings, which ought to be part of the standard high-school curriculum. Their lesson is clear: Under cover of secrecy, government agents will commit abuses with impunity for years on end, and only intrusive Congressional snooping can stop them.
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Also, I find Susan Phalen's comments disingenuous because the members of the House and their staff should have been given copies of the original document before being asked to vote on something as important as the USA PATRIOT Act. 
Rep. Mike Rogers should step down as the head of the House Intelligence Committee if for no other reason than he betrayed the public trust for the sake of expediency. If he doesn't then much worse may happen to him when the public demands new Senate hearings of the kind not seen since the Church Committee of the 1970's. Keep an eye on this folks because it's going to get very ugly very soon.
