ALG's Daily Grind - NSA denies spying on U.S. citizens

May 13, 2013

NSA denies spying on U.S. citizens

NSA statement: "One of the biggest misconceptions about [the] National Security Agency is that we are unlawfully listening in on, or reading emails of, U.S. citizens. This is simply not the case."

IRS admits to targeting conservative groups like the Richmond Tea Party

IRS head of tax-exempt groups Lois Lerner: "That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review. The IRS would like to apologize for that."

Austerity versus growth a false choice

What if that spending apparently takes away resources from the private sector? Is government spending then truly a measure of economic health? A new ALG study investigates Keynes' chief claim.

Pethokoukis: Is the real US unemployment rate 11.3% or 7.5%?

"How much of the 2.7 percentage point drop in labor force participation since 2007 reflects structural forces rather than weak demand discouraging workers? Second, is the key structural element mostly the aging of the U.S. population or is it the shift of the workforce into Social Security disability?"

ALG's Daily Grind - Will markets crash without a capital gains and dividends tax fix?

Dec. 4, 2012

Will markets crash without a capital gains and dividends tax fix?

Many investors would sell their stocks now to lock in the lower tax rate, and each day that goes by without resolution to the fiscal cliff, the more likely a selloff becomes.

Top 12 Big Gov't Busts of 2012: #8 Drones In Our Air

Those things that we used to use to round up members of the Taliban are being used in our country now!

The missing link

Taking away 3 to 5 percent of the incomes of top-earners won't really hurt most of the so-called "wealthy" all that much, but it sure will hurt those who depend upon the expenditure of their discretionary income.

Hedges: Three Men Who Wouldn't Let the NSA Get Away With It

"[W]histle-blowers such as Kirk Wiebe and William Binney, both of whom worked at the National Security Agency and then left because of mismanagement and corruption, have warned that intelligence agencies are abusing the Constitution and lavishing private companies with expensive contracts in exchange for subpar data processing and analysis systems."

ALG - Holder to lead investigation into White House national security leaks?

June 12, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement urging the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to lead the investigation into the White House national security leaks case, questioning whether the truth could be revealed if Attorney General Eric Holder was overseeing the investigation:

"Eric Holder, who has been under increasing scrutiny for his purported cover-up of the Fast and Furious, the Black Panthers Philly 2008 case, and fighting Florida's voter ID laws, has no business leading the investigation into the White House national security leaks. He is a political appointee loyal to Obama.

"The Office of Special Counsel is the only office that independent of the Attorney General can lead such a politically charged inquiry. Holder has an interest to protect Obama, who for all we know originated the leak. Only an independent investigation will reveal how far up this goes, and avoid any appearance of a cover-up.

"If ever there was a case for a special prosecutor, this is it. This is precisely why the Office of Special Counsel was created.

"Holder should stand aside, and let an independent investigation proceed without his or the White House's interference. Right now, this is the equivalent of the fox watching the hen house. Nobody is going to feel justice was served when the White House exonerates itself without an independent body having had a chance to investigate."

To view online: http://getliberty.org/holder-to-lead-investigation-into-white-house-national-security-leaks/

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

Sheila Jackson Lee withdraws CISPA amendment, ALG responds

April 26, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson issued the following statement on the withdrawal of an amendment offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" (CISPA) that would have authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security "to acquire, intercept, retain, use, and disclose communications and other system traffic that are transiting to or from or stored on Federal systems:"

"It is a good day for liberty when an Orwellian amendment so horrific that it would have authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security, a political appointee, to monitor the nation's entire digital infrastructure and in the process, spy on Americans, was withdrawn from consideration. This police state on steroids amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee was a thuggish thrust at authoritarian control on all Americans.

It is likely the amendment was about to go down to a spectacular bipartisan defeat. And deservedly so.

"However, major problems remain with the legislation. Much of the debate surrounding CISPA has focused on provisions creating a right of service providers to decide whether or not they wish to share user data with the government.  In the process, everyone has been pretending or assuming that the government is not already collecting and storing this data through various intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency.

"Recent disclosures by former NSA official William Binney on Democracy Now challenges that assumption in an alarming fashion. By Binney's account, not only has the government been gathering intelligence domestically on U.S. citizens for some years now by monitoring the entire network, but that it has already developed a vast database of most every electronic communication in the world. CISPA does not address these concerns at all.

"If Congress wishes to truly address intelligence 'sharing' with the government by communications companies, it must first outlaw these existing NSA and other surveillance programs and order the destruction of the data already in the government's possession. Then it might have more teeth, and the American people could have certainty their sensitive private data is actually secure.

"But pretending that this pointless debate now taking place in Congress will have any effect on whether data on everybody will continue to be collected by the government is not the solution. It only creates a false veneer of privacy."

Attachments:

"Cyber intelligence sharing vote raises broader constitutional questions," ALG President Bill Wilson, April 25, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/04/cyber-intelligence-sharing-vote-raises-broader-constitutional-questions-2/

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

ALG - Sheila Jackson Lee CISPA amendment gives Homeland Security power to spy on Americans

April 25, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson issued the following statement on an amendment offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Privacy Act" (CISPA) that would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security "to acquire, intercept, retain, use, and disclose communications and other system traffic that are transiting to or from or stored on Federal systems:"

"Any reasonable person should see the amendment proposed by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee as far-reaching and Orwellian. The Jackson Lee amendment to CISPA is the purest expression of totalitarianism ever proposed in the halls of Congress. It is breathtaking the speed with which the police state is being advanced in this legislation.

"This sweeping amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee would allow the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, a political appointee, to monitor the nation's entire digital infrastructure. There are no communications that do not 'transit to' or through existing Federal systems including those run by the FCC, and based on recent disclosures by NSA whistleblower William Binney, there are no communications that are not 'stored on' Federal systems in some way.

"That means every communication in the world would be accessible by the Secretary of Homeland Security. And since it also includes all communications on Federal systems, that would include all congressional correspondence, all congressional inquiries into anything, all internal White House communications, all sealed federal court documents, all military communications, and all intelligence gathering in the world. In short, all of the most sensitive top-secret and privileged information would funnel to a politically appointed official who may be tempted to misuse it.

"The Secretary need only certify that acquiring the information is necessary to counter cyber security threats. Since the Secretary will have no way of knowing which information will be relevant to that purpose until the data is filtered and analyzed, she will have to acquire it all in the process.

"Once acquired, the amendment even allows the information to be used beyond the purview of protecting national security or against cyber threats. Under Jackson Lee's amendment, 'information obtained pursuant to activities authorized under this subsection will … be retained, used, or disclosed… with the approval of the Attorney General, for law enforcement purposes when the information is evidence of a crime which has been, is being, or is about to be committed.' Suddenly, the nation's vast intelligence and military infrastructure will be at the fingertips of the Department of Justice to be used for targeted, malicious, political prosecutions."

Attachments:

"Cyber intelligence sharing vote raises broader constitutional questions," ALG President Bill Wilson, April 25, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/04/cyber-intelligence-sharing-vote-raises-broader-constitutional-questions-2/

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.