www.coburn.senate.gov - Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011"

Dec 20 2011

http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/6946d43b-bccf-4579-990e-15a763532b40.html

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released a new oversight report, “Wastebook 2011” that highlights over $6.5 billion in examples of some of the most egregious ways your taxpayer dollars were wasted. This report details 100 of the countless unnecessary, duplicative and low-priority projects spread throughout the federal government.

“Video games, robot dragons, Christmas trees, and magic museums. This is not a Christmas wish list, these are just some of the ways the federal government spent your tax dollars. Over the past 12 months, politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government’s out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not absolutely need. Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt, which now exceeds $15 trillion,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Congress cannot even agree on a plan to pay for the costs of extending jobless benefits to the millions of Americans who are still out of work. Yet, thousands of millionaires are receiving unemployment benefits and billions of dollars of improper payments of unemployment insurance are being made to individuals with jobs and others who do not qualify. And remember those infamous bridges to nowhere in Alaska that became symbols of government waste years ago? The bridges were never built, yet the federal government still spent more than a million dollars just this year to pay for staff to promote one of the bridges.”

Examples of wasteful spending highlighted in “Wastebook 2011” include:

• $75,000 to promote awareness about the role Michigan plays in producing Christmas trees & poinsettias.

• $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska.

• $113,227 for video game preservation center in New York.

• $550,000 for a documentary about how rock music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• $48,700 for 2nd annual Hawaii Chocolate Festival, to promote Hawaii’s chocolate industry.

• $350,000 to support an International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.

• $10 million for a remake of “Sesame Street” for Pakistan.

• $35 million allocated for political party conventions in 2012.

• $765,828 to subsidize “pancakes for yuppies” in the nation’s capital.

• $764,825 to study how college students use mobile devices for social networking.

Sam Smith - America’s Silent Collapse

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/12/20/americas-silent-collapse/

December 20, 2011

by SAM SMITH

One of the curiosities of being chronically ahead of the mainstream is that periodically you suddenly discover that you’re not. For example, over the past decade I’ve putting forth the notion, seemingly bizarre to many, that the First American Republic was over and that we had moved into a post constitutional adhocracy. Lately, however, the idea seems to be becoming increasingly mundane, almost like saying, “Geez, that was a lot of rain we had.”

But when did it shift from being a radical thought to becoming so inevitable? I don’t remember people debating it on corporate TV, writing about it in the NY Times, arguing it in a campaign speech, or analyzing it in a professorial paper. It just happened. The most important development in our nation’s history since the Civil War crept into the room like a shy new guest. And somewhere in between, radical conjecture transformed itself into the norm.

We have moved into a time in which the Bill of Rights is being routinely trashed, the true unemployment rate is higher than anything we’ve seen since the thirties, our corporations are out of control, no one in power seems to care about climate change, and the only presidential candidate in either major party who won’t send you to Gitmo without an indictment and trial is Ron Paul.

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Thomas Edsall - The Trouble With That Revolving Door

Published on Monday, December 19, 2011 by the New York Times

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/the-trouble-with-that-revolving-door/

by Thomas Edsall

Last week, an inside-the-Beltway newsletter, First Street, published a unique top-ten list. It reveals which former members of Congress are among the most important Washington lobbyists.

The first four on the list — Senator John Breaux, of Louisiana (who served in Congress from 1972 to 2005), Representative Tom Downey, of New York (1974 to 1993), Representative Victor Fazio, of California (1979 to 1999), and former Democratic House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (1977 to 2005) – are all members of the Democratic Party, which historically has represented the bottom half of the income distribution.

These former Democratic members of the House and Senate are on the cutting edge of a revolution in the political culture of the nation’s capitol. Without attracting the attention of the general public, the career path of retired legislators has transformed the thinking of those still in Congress, Democrat and Republican alike.

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ScienceDaily - Why Do People Defend Unjust, Inept, and Corrupt Systems?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212153157.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2011) — Why do we stick up for a system or institution we live in -- a government, company, or marriage -- even when anyone else can see it is failing miserably? Why do we resist change even when the system is corrupt or unjust? A new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, illuminates the conditions under which we're motivated to defend the status quo -- a process called "system justification."

System justification isn't the same as acquiescence, explains Aaron C. Kay, a psychologist at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, who co-authored the paper with University of Waterloo graduate student Justin Friesen. "It's pro-active. When someone comes to justify the status quo, they also come to see it as what should be."

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Ray McGovern - Battlefield America -- Is Gitmo in Your Future?

By Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Posted on December 4, 2011, Printed on December 18, 2011
http://consortiumnews.com

Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the “extraordinary measures” introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933.

And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution. As one German writer observed, “With sheepish submissiveness we watched it unfold, as if from a box at the theater.”

The writer was Sebastian Haffner (real name Raimond Pretzel), a young German lawyer worried at what he saw in 1933 in Berlin, but helpless to stop it since, as he put it, the German people “collectively and limply collapsed, yielded and capitulated.”

“The result of this millionfold nervous breakdown,” wrote Haffner at the time, “is the unified nation, ready for anything, that is today the nightmare of the rest of the world.” Not a happy analogy.

The Senate bill, in effect, revokes an 1878 law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which banned the Army from domestic law enforcement after the military had been used —and often abused — in that role during Reconstruction. Ever since then, that law has been taken very seriously — until now. Military officers have had their careers brought to an abrupt halt by involving federal military assets in purely civilian criminal matters.

But that was before 9/11 and the mantra, “9/11 changed everything.” In this case of the Senate-passed NDAA – more than a decade after the terror attacks and even as U.S. intelligence agencies say al-Qaeda is on the brink of defeat – Congress continues to carve away constitutional and legal protections in the name of fighting “terrorism.”

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Bernie Sanders - Saving American Democracy

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Saving-American-Democracy-by-Bernie-Sanders-111217-300.html

December 17, 2011 By Bernie Sanders I have recently introduced a constitutional amendment, the Saving American Democracy Act, to undo the damage being caused by the disastrous 5-4 Citizens United Supreme Court decision. In my view, this Supreme Court decision is one of the worst in the history of our country. Together, we have got to do everything we can to repeal it. A good place to start would be signing the petition and becoming a citizen co-sponsor of this resolution. Let me be very clear. Despite what five members of the U.S. Supreme Court may believe, a corporation is not a person. A corporation does not have First Amendment rights to spend as much money as it wants, without disclosure, on a political campaign. Corporations should not be able to go into their treasuries and withdraw unlimited sums of money in order to buy elections. That's not what American democracy is supposed to be about. This horrendous Supreme Court ruling has radically changed the nature of our democracy. It has further tilted the balance of power in our country towards the rich and the powerful and against the needs of the middle class and working families.    Today, when corporations have more than $2 trillion in cash in their bank accounts and are making record-breaking profits, the American people are outraged when the Supreme Court says that these corporations have a constitutionally-protected right to spend shareholders' money to dominate an election.  If we do not reverse this decision, there will be no end to the impact that corporate interests can have on our campaigns and our democracy.

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CBS Miami - Broward Considers Airport Body Scanner Ban

CBS Miami, December 13, 2011

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/13/broward-considers-airport-body-scanner-ban/

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami.com) – In the wake of most countries in Europe vowing to stop using full-body scanners at airports; the Broward County Commission is looking into banning the scanners from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The ban would be in place until the scanners have scientifically been proven safe for passengers.

The Commission is expected to take up the issue Tuesday and the TSA will have a spokesperson there to argue for the government’s position.

If the Broward Commission bans the body scanners, it would be the first major airport in the United States to approve a ban since Europe banned the system, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The scanners emit low-levels of radiation when performing the scans, which has raised concerns around the world.

PBS published a report earlier this year that said it was possible that between six and 100 airline passengers each year could get cancer from going through the machines.

The TSA has repeatedly said the scanners are less dangerous than common X-rays. The Department of Homeland Security also said that the technology used on the scanners is safe for all passengers.

While Broward County can pass the ban, the ultimate decision will come from the TSA on whether or not to keep the technology in place

URGENT National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 * on Senate Floor

** S 1867 WAS ON THE SENATE FLOOR NOVEMBER 28, 2011 **

the National Defense Authorization Act passed in the House on May 26th by a vote of 322 – 96 with 227 Republicans and 95 Dems voting YES and

90 Dems (progressive coalition) and 6 Republicans voting NAY

Only TWO organizations listed at opposing the Act...”Environmentalists against War” and the Progressive Democrats of America.

with

Interests that support this bill:

•  Defense electronic contractorsDefense electronic contractors (close)

•  DefenseDefense (close)

•  Alternate energy production & servicesAlternate energy production & services (close)

•  ChemicalsChemicals (close)

•  Optical instruments & lensesOptical instruments & lenses (close)

•  Industrial/commercial equipment & materialsIndustrial/commercial equipment & materials (close)

•  Fabricated metal productsFabricated metal products (close)

•  Clothing & accessoriesClothing & accessories (close)

•  Hardware & toolsHardware & tools (close)

•  Small arms & ammunitionSmall arms & ammunition (close)

•  Shoes & leather productsShoes & leather products (close)

•  Textiles & fabricsTextiles & fabrics (close)

Top recipients for ALL supporting interest groups

Name	Amount Received	Vote On Passage
Rep. Eric Cantor [R, VA-7]	$99,950	Aye
Rep. Steny Hoyer [D, MD-5]	$98,000	Aye
Rep. Kay Granger [R, TX-12]	$76,950	Aye
Rep. Bennie Thompson [D, MS-2]	$71,600	Nay
Rep. James Clyburn [D, SC-6]	$65,000	Nay
Rep. Geoff Davis [R, KY-4]	$61,600	Aye
Rep. Bill Young [R, FL-10]	$61,300	Aye
Rep. Michael Rogers [R, MI-8]	$60,800	Aye
Rep. David Camp [R, MI-4]	$55,469	Aye
Rep. Vern Buchanan [R, FL-13]	$54,800	Aye

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h1540/show

Michell Eloy - Protestors Cry Foul at Emanuel over Proposed G8, NATO Restrictions

Published on Friday, December 16, 2011 by WBEZ (Chicago)

http://www.wbez.org/story/protestors-cry-foul-over-proposed-g8-nato-restrictions-94957

by Michell Eloy

Protesters are criticizing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to raise fines and tighten security measures during the upcoming G8 and NATO summits.

The mayor introduced an ordinance during Wednesday's City Council meeting that, if passed, would temporarily raise fines for resisting police or aiding someone escaping arrest. During the summits, which could draw thousands of protesters, Emanuel wants to increase the minimum fine from $25 to $200 and double the maximum fine to $1,000. His proposed ordinance would also close parks, playgrounds and beaches overnight for longer periods of time.

"People are outraged," said Mary Zerkel, who's with the Quaker group American Friends Services Committee. "It's, again, the tightening of free speech."

Zerkel said the proposed restrictions could deter peaceful protesters.

"People are going to think twice about that kind of money to engage in non-violent civil disobedience," said Zerkel.

Emanuel has defended the ordinance as necessary to ensure the two international summits run without a problem.

"We're just doing what's appropriate to make sure we can hold the conference. People can express their views. The leaders can have their meetings, and we can do it in a safe and responsible way," said Emanuel.

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Jim Wallis - The Disappearance of the Compassionate Conservatives

Thursday 8 December 2011

by: Jim Wallis, Sojouners 

http://www.truth-out.org/disappearance-compassionate-conservatives/1323804807

I would never have been mistaken as a political supporter of President George W. Bush. But in his early days as president, I was invited to have conversations with him and his team about faith-based initiatives aimed at overcoming poverty, shoring up international aid and development for the most vulnerable, and supporting critical agendas such as international adoptions of marginalized children and the broken domestic foster care system.

My invitations to the Bush White House ended when I strongly and publicly opposed the Iraq War. But I continued to support the administration’s efforts to combat poverty and disease, especially Bush’s leadership in combating HIV/AIDs, malaria, and massive hunger in the poorest places in Africa.

That agenda was called “compassionate conservatism” and I was grateful for it. Back then, Republican leaders could be fiscally conservative, favor “small government,” and believe in the free market, for example, but also believe that government should and must partner with the private sector — especially non-profit and faith-based organizations — to help lift people out of poverty, both abroad in the developing world and here at home in the richest nation on the planet. Such a conviction requires two things: A genuine empathy and commitment to the poor, and a more balanced and positive view of government — neither of which were much evident in the GOP’s right-wing quarters, where the compassionate conservative agenda was opposed by party leaders such as Tom DeLay and Dick Armey.

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Robert Scheer - There Goes the Republic

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/there_goes_the_republic_20111214/

Posted on Dec 15, 2011

By Robert Scheer

Once again the gods of war have united our Congress like nothing else. Unable to agree on the minimal spending necessary to save our economy, schools, medical system or infrastructure, the cowards who mislead us have retreated to the irrationalities of what George Washington in his farewell address condemned as “pretended patriotism.”

The defense authorization bill that Congress passed and President Obama had threatened to veto will soon become law, a fact that should be met with public outrage. Human Rights Watch President Kenneth Roth, responding to Obama’s craven collapse on the bill’s most controversial provision, said, “By signing this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in US law.” On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed “the most recent changes give the president additional discretion in determining how the law will be implemented, consistent with our values and the rule of law, which are at the heart of our country’s strength.”

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WashingtonsBlog - The Indefinite Detention Bill DOES Apply to American Citizens on U.S. Soil

Posted on December 14, 2011 by WashingtonsBlog 

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/12/the-indefinite-detention-bill-does-apply-to-american-citizens-on-u-s-soil.html

“Don’t Be Fooled”: The Indefinite Detention Bill DOES Apply to American Citizens

Even at this 11th hour – when all of our liberties and freedom are about to go down the drain – many people still don’t understand that the indefinite detention bill passed by Congress allows indefinite detention of Americans on American soil.

The bill is confusing. As Wired noted on December 1st:

It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority.”

A retired admiral, Judge Advocate General and Dean Emeritus of the University of New Hampshire School of Law also says that it applies to American citizens on American soil.

The ACLU notes:

Don’t be confused by anyone claiming that the indefinite detention legislation does not apply to American citizens. It does. There is an exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement (section 1032 of the bill), but no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial (section 1031 of the bill). So, the result is that, under the bill, the military has the power to indefinitely imprison American citizens, but it does not have to use its power unless ordered to do so.

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Stephen Lendman - Washington's Greater Middle East Agenda: War

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Washington-s-Greater-Middl-by-Stephen-Lendman-111218-322.html

December 18, 2011 By Stephen Lendman Targeting the Middle East's rich oil and gas resources, Washington plans waring against the region one country at a time to replace independent regimes with client ones. Washington's Greater Middle East Agenda: War - by Stephen Lendman America's permanent war agenda. Targeting the Middle East's rich oil and gas resources, Washington plans waring against the region one country at a time to replace independent regimes with client ones. At issue is achieving total dominance over MENA (Middle East/North Africa) countries and Central Asia to Russia and China's borders. Another key objective is removing or marginalizing their regional influence.  Russia is Washington's main military rival. Between them, they control about 97% of the world's nuclear arsenal with sophisticated delivery systems able to target strategic global sites. China also has significant military strength. According to a 2009 Pentagon report, its naval forces alone are formidable.They number at least 260 vessels, including 75 or more major warships and over 60 submarines.  In addition, Beijing has hundreds of nuclear warheads, sophisticated delivery systems, and other strategic weapons. As a result, it's the region's dominant military power. During Asia's mid-November Bali summit, Obama sought anti-China coalition partners to enhance Washington's regional position. Key is establishing military superiority.

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Ralph Nader - Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender

Published on Thursday, December 15, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/15-0

by Ralph Nader

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution.

Here is how two retired 4 star marine generals, Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, described in the New York Times the stripmining of your freedom to resist tyranny in urging a veto by President Obama:

“One provision would authorize the military to indefinitely detain without charge people suspected of involvement with terrorism, including United States citizens apprehended on American soil. Due process would be a thing of the past….

“A second provision would mandate military custody for most terrorism suspects. It would force on the military responsibilities it hasn’t sought”…. "for domestic law enforcement….”

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David Kristjanson-Gural - Capitalism Is the Enemy of Democracy

Tuesday 13 December 2011

by: David Kristjanson-Gural, Truthout | Op-Ed

http://www.truth-out.org/capitalism-enemy-democracy/1323789051

The most significant accomplishment for Occupy Wall Street (OWS) to date is that the Occupiers have managed to poke a hole in the legitimacy of neoliberal capitalism and its central claim that unregulated markets provide opportunity and freedom.

The Occupiers have accomplished this feat in a surprising way, peacefully, with home-made signs, signs [4] that say things like, "If I had a lobbyist, I wouldn't need this sign."

OWS has punctured the neoliberal façade simply by having the audacity to gather in public, in bold defiance of the police and to bear witness, by their solidarity and cooperation, to the idea that the Washington Consensus has long denied - that a different world is possible.

Phil Rockstroh [5] puts it this way: "the walls of the neoliberal prison are cracking ... We are no longer isolated, enclosed in our alienation, imprisoned by a concretized sense of powerlessness; daylight is beginning to pierce the darkness of our desolate cells."

At the core of this neoliberal ideology is a simple assertion - economic exchanges promote freedom because they are voluntary and, thus, they only occur if both parties believe they will benefit. Unregulated market exchanges thus allow individuals to engage with others in complex social arrangements without coercion, without impinging on individual liberty. Government is needed, but only to define and enforce property rights and to create and regulate the currency individuals need to undertake market exchanges.

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Bill Blum - Three Supreme Court Cases That Should Worry You

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/three_supreme_court_cases_that_should_worry_you_20111218/

Posted on Dec 18, 2011

By Bill Blum

At his 2005 Senate confirmation hearing, John Roberts, the nominee of President George W. Bush to become the 17th chief justice of the United States, promised to serve in the neutral fashion of a baseball umpire and lead the Supreme Court away from all manner of judicial activism. “[I]t’s my job to call balls and strikes,” he testified, “and not to pitch or bat.”

Few, if any, observers took Roberts at his word, given his track record as a Republican warhorse, including stints as a clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist and as deputy solicitor general under the first President Bush. But even the skeptics were not prepared for the judicial counterrevolution that Roberts and his conservative high court brethren have engineered since.

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Gustav Wynn - 48 Members of Congress Move Towards Prosecution of Wall Street, But Need You

http://www.opednews.com/articles/48-Members-of-Congress-Mov-by-Gustav-Wynn-111213-990.html

December 13, 2011 By Gustav Wynn Dozens of members of Congress are waking up to the "Occupy Wall Street" sentiment sweeping the country. Instead of laying low as the Obama Administration crafts a deal to "sell immunity" to Wall Street firms, some in Congress are rallying behind the six rogue Attorneys General who have been actually trying to do their job and put crooks in jail for robosigning, mortgage origination and securities fraud. It's a great step for the Occupy movement.  Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) has proposed H. Con. Res. 85 to bar any settlement deal that would give Wall Street banks immunity for crimes that she says should be immediately investigated by federal and state prosecutors.  The grassroots response so far has been overwhelming, with over 77,000 signing Baldwin's petition (sign here) and thousands making phone calls to send a message to the banks.

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Stephen Lendman - Fascism in America

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Fascism-in-America-by-Stephen-Lendman-111205-132.html

December 5, 2011 By Stephen Lendman Post-WW I, Fascim's roots emerged. At the time, Western civilization was thought to be decadent, destructive, and in decline. Fascism in America - by Stephen Lendman America's lurching fast toward full-blown tyranny. In 1932, Mussolini declared the 20th century a "Fascist century," saying: "It is to be expected that this century may be that of authority, a century of the "Right," a Fascist century." He claimed it would "sav(e) Western civilization." For what he didn't explain. Post-WW I, Fascim's roots emerged. At the time, Western civilization was thought to be decadent, destructive, and in decline. In his book titled, "The Decline of the West," Oswald Spengler said "liberalism, democracy, socialism (and) free-masosnry" weakened it. Only fascism could save it.

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Eliot Spitzer - How to Turn the President's Nice Words into Action

By Eliot Spitzer, Slate

Posted on December 9, 2011, Printed on December 10, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/153390/eliot_spitzer%3A_how_to_turn_the_president%27s_nice_words_into_action

On Tuesday, in Osawatomie, Kan., President Obama gave a glorious and powerful speech that was a testament to the enduring appeal of one of our greatest political figures: Theodore Roosevelt. The president harnessed the economic principles of the Progressive Era and applied them to the economic realities of today. He made an argument for a dynamic government that invests based upon principles of equity and opportunity for all; a government that fosters a genuine robust capitalism based on principles of true competition and market integrity. The difference between the president’s vision of government and that of his potential Republican presidential opponents is vast. The difference between the president’s speech and his own governance over the past three years is, unfortunately, only marginally smaller.

The president has tried to wear the mantle of several presidents recently: Truman, for his attacks on a do-nothing congress; Eisenhower for his careful centrism; Clinton, for his willingness to invoke executive authority when the legislative branch failed. Yet it is Theodore Roosevelt whom President Obama should stick with, Theodore Roosevelt whose passion and principles of true reform have the most relevance today.

Obama’s speech was a welcome tonic, an indication of a new direction that might be taken. So who deserves credit for nudging the president to change his focus and tone? Occupy Wall Street. The president’s speech—which might be viewed as the opening salvo of the presidential race—was defined by OWS. Growth, fairness, and opportunity have replaced deficit reduction as the central theme of American politics. I even wonder whether Judge Rakoff would have issued his wonderful opinion rejecting as inadequate the SEC-Citibank settlement without the foundation laid by OWS. Judge Rakoff’s opinion is the judicial analogue to OWS: a visceral statement of discontent; a judicial “I have had enough of this”—albeit in more modulated prose.

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Washington's Blog - Joe Biden Drafted the Core of the Patriot Act in 1995 … Before the Oklahoma City Bombing

By Washington's Blog

Global Research, December 11, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28148

The Core of the Patriot Act Was Drafted in 1995 … By Joe Biden Everyone knows that the Patriot Act was drafted before 9/11. But few know that it was Joe Biden who drafted the core provisions which were included in that bill … in 1995. CNET reported in 2008: Months before the Oklahoma City bombing took place, Biden introduced another bill called theOmnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995. It previewed the 2001 Patriot Act by allowing secret evidence to be used in prosecutions, expanding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and wiretap laws, creating a new federal crime of “terrorism” that could be invoked based on political beliefs, permitting the U.S. military to be used in civilian law enforcement, and allowing permanent detention of non-U.S. citizens without judicial review.* The Center for National Security Studies said the bill would erode “constitutional and statutory due process protections” and would “authorize the Justice Department to pick and choose crimes to investigate and prosecute based on political beliefs and associations.”

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