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The American Freedom Agenda (AFA) is a ten-point complaint list of the most egregious of anti-Constitutional, anti-civil liberties proposals, passed into law at the behest of the current administration. Bruce Fein, David Keene, Richard Viguerie, Bob Barr, and now, John Whitehead, are movement conservatives with a well-established pedigree. That four of them voted for George W. Bush at least once, gives their criticism special validity. ::::::The aforementioned men decided to send a letter to President George W. Bush calling for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales (it’s attached to this message in pdf format). ::::::It’s a bad start. ::: :::I thought they were going to give us bills — ways to change the law so that we needn’t rely on faith in good nature of the occupants of office. I was eager to sign-on to these efforts. ::::::I still am. ::::::But I’m disappointed that, after a successful national press conference, this is their next big salvo. ::::::”The problem is not the abuse of power,
“Top of Center is a podcast recorded Mondays at 8:30p.m. at TalkShoe.com. Tonight’s guest is Jim Babka of DownsizeDC.org, and we’ll be talking a little about the most recent developments with DownsizeDC, and the impact of Digg and other ‘New Media’ artifices on building a mainstream consciousness of the Read The Bills Act campaign.::::::”You can go to TopofCenter.com and listen via the embedded player on the homepage. To call in or text chat during the recording, you can get a free TalkShoe account and PIN number and phone in, or download the TalkShoe client and browse to Top of Center and clicking the Listen Now button.”
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Subject: Virginia Tech killings::::::Did laws prohibiting gun possession, or carrying guns onto school campuses, prevent what happened at Virginia Tech today?
Fair Tax?
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::In this issue:::::::* Babka on Jerry Hughes show this afternoon:::* Representative from “Fair Tax” organization on Jim’s show Sunday:::* Action item for Downsize DC partner, “Free Talk Live”
Perhaps the most controversial part of the PATRIOT Act is the expansion of the federal government’s power to issue what are called “National Security Letters.” A National Security Letter (NSL) is, as Wikiepdia explains, ::::::
a form of administrative subpoena used by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is a demand letter issued to a particular entity or organization to turn over various record and data pertaining to individuals. They require no probable cause or judicial oversight. They also contain a gag order, preventing the recipient of the letter from disclosing that the letter was ever issued. …::::::Once passed in 2001, section 505 of the USA PATRIOT Act greatly expanded the use of the NSL, allowing their use in scrutiny of US residents or visitors who are not suspects in any criminal investigation. It also granted the privilege to other federal agencies, presumably to allow the department of Homeland Security the same ability to use NSLs. The USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization statutes passed during the 109th Congress added specific penalties for non-compliance or disclosure.
::::::Investigating individuals without cause or warrant isn’t “a power that can be abused,” it is itself abuse. That’s why a coalition of grassroots organizations, including DownsizeDC.org, has sent its own letter to Congress calling on it to reform the FBI’s National Security Letter powers under the Patriot Act.
Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Subject: Repealing the Patriot Act::::::Our call to repeal the Patriot Act generated hate mail. In between the many curse words employed by some of the angry mailers, their basic arguments reduced to this . . .::::::The burden of proof lies with us, not the government. If the government says it needs new powers in order to protect us, then we must grant those powers.
Downsize DC President Jim Babka will be on the Molson & Lee Show today (Tuesday the 10th) on 970-AM WMAY in Springfield, Illinois.
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Please share with concerned friends . . .::::::Subject: Repeal the Patriot Act::::::Politicians excel at “the fine art of crisis creation.” Time and again they create policies that fail. Then they exploit those failures to grab more power, and then, almost inevitably, they fail again, only on a larger scale.::::::It’s a vicious cycle and a cancerous death-spiral to our liberty. ::::::9-11 and its aftermath provide a perfect example.
Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Thirteen more organizations and websites have joined the “Read the Bills Act” Coalition (plus there are a few more in process). Check out the new ones . . .