-Bush Debuting “Patriot II”

– A new bill allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the money orders you sent to your family, the items you bought or sold at the pawnshop, and the places you’ve traveled.

And, say privacy advocates, that may not be the worst of it.

On Dec. 13, President George W. Bush signed into law an act giving the FBI dramatically increased domestic surveillance powers. Now, the FBI can – without a judge’s order – go through previously private financial records from numerous businesses. Observers say that this is the beginning of the administration’s push to quietly implement Patriot Act II, a comprehensive wish list of expanded police and spying authority that would build on its October 2001 predecessor, the controversial USA PATRIOT Act.

Since the anti-privacy provisions were — despite the objections of the Senate Judiciary Committee — hidden inside a routine intelligence appropriations bill and faced almost no public scrutiny, members of congress from both parties fear that this is the start of something big — “a stealth enactment of the enormously unpopular ‘Patriot II’ legislation,” according to a statement from Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

How does H.R. 2417, the Intelligence Appropriations Act for 2004, violate privacy and due process?……………

Whole Article Here
http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=40