PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS LARGE PARTS OF PATRIOT ACT II; WHILE THE WORLD WATCHED THE SADDAM CAPTURE."Loss of Freedom Seldom Happens Overnight ... It Creeps Up Insidiously ... Step by Step, And All Of A Sudden The Unfortunate Citizen Realizes That It Is Gone." Baron Lane (b. 1918), British Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England, quoted in the Independent February 3, 1990.
On December 13, while the world was glued to their televisions watching the incredible capture of Saddam Hussein; President Bush became so overwhelmed with joy that he pulled out his pen and without a word signed into law a bill that takes away many more of the average American Citizen's Freedoms that had already been lost in Patriot Act I . Remember, this was on a Saturday. The last time President Bush signed a bill on a Saturday was over a year ago and was necessary to keep the U.S. federal government from shutting down Monday.
No newspaper that day seemed to pick up that drastic loss of freedom bill that was inacted. Seems Bush and his Congressional allies tucked away these new executive draconian powers under the guise of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004.
This new law, that was passed by Congress around Thanksgiving ( the Senate passed it with a voice vote to avoid individual accountability ) redefines, for one thing, what a "financial institution" is. While a normal person thinks it is a bank, in the U.S. a financial institution now also includes stockbrokers, car dealerships, casinos, credit card companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines, the U.S. post office and any other business "whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters."
But the Act does not just stop there. Suddenly there is the "National Security Letter". The FBI now needs no judge, has a gag order attached to it, and the FBI is not required to report to Congress, or, frankly, anyone as to how and why the "Letter" was used.
This is the FBI's Carte Blanche to raid anyone's financial records that they want to, even if the targeted individual has no connection to criminal or terrorist activity, i.e. "due process of law" is thrown out the window.
Of course, the Bush administration refuses to answer key questions about its latest constitutional coup. The news article link above is scary to say the least.
Thanks much to David Martin, the reporter who unearthed another part of the ongoing Bush Administration's stealth agenda.
Regards,
Charlie