Tag Archives: Patriot Act

NPR reports: The Senate has approved the USA Freedom Act, which will alter the way U.S. agencies conduct surveillance and gather data. A final vote on the bill came late Tuesday afternoon, after amendments to the bill failed. President Obama can now sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches him, after an expedited enrollment process. Sen. Rand …

Sen. Rand Paul is claiming victory over last night’s expiration of several major portions of the Patriot Act, but he may be merely grandstanding as the Senate is expected to quickly reauthorize the expired laws. The Senate entered a debate period late Sunday on the Patriot Act that pushed beyond the midnight deadline. With the debate ongoing, that effectively ends …

Via The Hill: Thousands of websites are blocking Congress’s access to their sites in a show of force to protest the Patriot Act. Led by the online activist group Fight for the Future, more than 10,000 sites have added code that redirects any visitors from Internet protocol (IP) addresses from Congress away from their site and towards a protest page. …

The Patriot Act is up for re-authorization and Rand Paul has begun his promised filibuster on the Senate floor. Watch live on C-SPAN 2 (cable log-in required). Can Rand Paul outdo Ted Cruz’ legendary Green Eggs & Ham filibuster?

Sen. Rand Paul said yesterday that he plans to filibuster against the impending reauthorization vote for the Patriot Act. “I’m going to lead the charge in the next couple of weeks as the Patriot Act comes forward,” he said in a one-on-one interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader. “We will be filibustering. We will be trying to stop it. …

Via NBC News: Snowden spoke to the “Last Week Tonight” host in Moscow, where he has been for more than a year since being charged with espionage after leaking classified information regarding the NSA’s extensive surveillance programs. Oliver asked Snowden to explain the implications of NSA surveillance on racy personal photos. “The good news is there’s no program named ‘the …

Over the weekend Christie took on the libertarians: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is ripping libertarians — including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — for challenging government surveillance programs and failing to understand the dangers of terrorism. “This strain of libertarianism that’s going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought,” the New Jersey …

From the New York Times editorial board: Within hours of the disclosure that the federal authorities routinely collect data on phone calls Americans make, regardless of whether they have any bearing on a counterterrorism investigation, the Obama administration issued the same platitude it has offered every time President Obama has been caught overreaching in the use of his powers: Terrorists …

It might seem impossible, but Congress has renewed the Patriot Act for another year. In the Senate, important privacy protections failed to be included due to the loss of the Democratic supermajority. Key provisions of the nation’s primary counterterrorism law would be extended for a year under a bill passed by the House last night after Democrats retreated from adding …