Well, Whaddyaknow! Congress Votes to Continue Surveillance State
This week, to the dismay of those who still believe that a Republican controlled House of Representatives means that we have divided government, the alliance of RINOs and Democrats in Congress allowed the statist agenda of Obama to continue unabated. The big government forces defeated an amendment to defund Obama’s SS/KGB/ NSA by a vote of 217 to 205. While the media circus kept us all focused on Trayvon, freedom suffered a defeat.
The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act was sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash (R, MI) and would have defunded the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records of all Americans and limited the collection to the records of people under investigation for international terrorism or foreign intelligence. The majority voted to continue spying on us without specific individual warrants. Big brother is keeping a record of every single call you make or receive and not just calls from or to overseas locations.
Supporting the amendment to stop it, were some of my favorites: Trey Gowdy (R, SC), Louie Gohmert (R, TX), Jim Bridenstine (R, OK), and Jim Sensenbrenner (R, TX). Even my congressman Dave Loebsack (D, IA) voted for the amendment. I think it may be the first time that he has ever voted against Obama and Pelosi. Maybe he’s not a clone or perhaps he had an epiphany.
Voting to continue the SS/KGB surveillance state were the usual RINOs and liberals: John Boehner (R, OH), Eric Cantor (R, VA), Paul Ryan (R, WI), Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D, TX) and Jan Schakowsky (D, IL). A little hint to our RINO “friends”: When you are voting to agree with Obama, Pelosi, Schakowsky and Jackson Lee, you really ought to check yourself as they are all communists.
What is surprising and disappointing is that some “conservatives” even voted against the amendment: Steve King (R, IA), Michelle Bachmann (R, MN) and Pete Sessions (R, TX) voted no. It’s enough to make a conservative political junky like me scratch my head in disbelief. I wonder what happens to these people when they get to D.C. Perhaps some of that NSA spying is paying off for the regime. Maybe they have the “goods” on some of these folks. After all, corruption seems to be a way of life in Washington.
The next day it was reported that Bachmann is being investigated by the House Ethics committee for campaign violations. It reminds me of that Senator in The Godfather who was going to stop the Corleones from moving on Las Vegas. Truth is stranger than fiction. Hollywood is not that original, the stories are torn from the headlines. Power corrupts and I don’t trust any of them.
The next day, the talking heads were on Fox News claiming that the amendment would have ended all NSA intelligence gathering, putting us all in danger of terrorism. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on Twitter that he was proud the House “rejected (in bipartisan way) a reckless plan 2 defund impt NSA program” and “stood up 4 America’s security.”
Being one who delves into the details of a story, I decided to discover what the amendment actually said. (Why is it that the media never trusts us with the details?) According to Congressman Amash, the sponsor, “The amendment limits the government’s collection of records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act to those records that pertain to a person who is subject to an investigation under that provision.” To my thinking, that would be in compliance with the 4th Amendment to the Constitution that protects us from unreasonable search and seizure.
Bachmann actually went on the Glenn Beck show and attempted to explain that the intelligence gathering was akin to the government recording the name and address on a letter without spying on the contents. Beck wasn’t buying it and neither am I. You have no damned business keeping records of whom I communicate with, Mr. Gestapo Obama!
