The Right Side of Reason: NSA

Showing posts with label NSA. Show all posts

Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Daily News Byte

It appears that the FCC is looking to study the American media. Supposedly, they would be sending FCC employees into news rooms across the country and analyzing their news stories. According to the FCC's supporters, they are looking to just make a survey and will not be regulating any kind of content. My main question is, if they just want a survey of information and plan to essentially do nothing with it for policy changes, what's the purpose. Also, why do such an extensive study by sending people to news stations just to watch. When a government agency claims it only wants to survey and that regulation will not follow, I am highly suspect, especially when those claiming to just want to observe are a regulatory agency. That would be like the IRS coming into your home to watch you do your taxes, they claim to be there to just watch, but won't make any judgments. Yeah, right.

CNN: Biden Says Obamacare has a 'Hell of a Start'

Why does anyone let Joe Biden near the press? I still can't believe the man made it to the White House. He recently claimed that even if the sign-ups for Obamacare don't hit the projected numbers, by between 1 or 2 million people, that they still had a 'hell of a start.' It's an interesting analysis of what's actually happened. We don't even know how many people have paid their premiums and what portion of those enrollees were the victims of losing their coverage due to Obamacare. So, the government said 7 million by March. But if they make it to 5 million, we don't know how many are receiving insurance, and a portion of them are people who lost coverage, that to Biden is still a good start. Only in the government can not reaching a goal by a few million still be considered good.

Zero Hedge: NSA Expansion

With all the controversy surrounding the Snowden files, public outcry from here at home and abroad would make one think that the NSA would be looking to reduce its spying abilities and dismantle some programs. But, according to the WSJ, it appears the NSA is looking to expand! It seems like the data is being held due to the impending court cases, and who knows what the outcome will be of those. But, with the current expansion happening, does anyone truly believe that afterwards the NSA will just destroy all records? I mean, the press will report that, but we can never know for sure.

Learn Liberty: Why Do all Politicians Sound the Same

This short little video goes on to explain why essentially, all politicians sounds exactly alike. The simple answer, they must because of majority rule. Because of majority rule, candidates need to soften their positions to gravitate more towards the independent and undecided voters.

Washington Examiner: Obama Comments on Syria and Ukraine

It would appear that I wasn't the only one making a connection between the current interventions in Syria and Ukraine as a continuation of the Cold War. The President directly said that "Our view is not to see it as some Cold War chessboard where we are in competition with Russia," Obama said, adding that the events in Syria and Ukraine were “an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the people." Now doesn't that just sound inspiring. Washington only cares about the people in Ukraine. It still doesn't detract from the fact that two major superpowers are essentially using these nations to achieve their own political ends.

National Review: Ted Cruz Fills Void

This is an op-ed piece by Thomas Sowell, a fellow of the Hoover Institution. He highlights that many of the Republican 'leadership' have essentially become so disconnected from the people that they appear to no longer think it's necessary to convey their ideas. Ted Cruz, a new guy, has created such political controversy in since he's been in Washington. One of the main reasons is because he is able to actually articulate the ideas of the Republic party, which he seems to go against. Because he is not playing DC's game, he is getting blasted in the media. The Republican leaders and keeping their heads down and not communication, and Ted Cruz is filling that gap.

Real Clear Politics: How Obama Can Lower Truck Fuel Use

Okay, to start, just the title of this article is so wrong on so many levels. First, how has our society come to look to the President for this action? Where does he possess this authority? Each day I read the news I come back to a ground breaking book "The Cult of the Presidency." Everyone must read it. Second, is the President, frankly, stupid comment: “Improving gas mileage for these trucks is going to drive down our oil imports even further. That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses’ fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers. So it’s not just a win-win, it’s a win-win-win. We got three wins.” This is a classic move, highlighting the things that make his argument work. He just blows by the only thing that matters, cost. If he raises standards, yes companies will pay less in gas and save money in that area (yay!) but, how will the company achieve these better standards? Well, if they are to high, they need new trucks which will cost lots of money (sad) and drive up prices. The author of this article is a trucking company, and they praise the President for this (so much for shutting out Big Business Mr. President). Here is the truth of the matter, a large corporation has the ability and funds to invest in new technologies that small companies do not. So, small business goes bye bye while big business reaps the benefits of removing competition.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Daily News Byte

Politico: House passes Debt Limit extension

Today the House of Representatives passed a 'clean' debt ceiling extension. With most of the Republican party voting 'no' on the extension, Boehner was able to muster up enough votes from the leadership of the party to get the bill passed. With each passing day it's evident that the Republican party leadership are just Democrat light.

Zero Hedge: Debt limit Vote

It appears that Boehner has lost the trust from his own party. With most of them voting 'no' on the bill, there is a clear disconnect between him and the rest of the Republicans. Also, when you get praise from Nancy Pelosi, “I’m grateful to the speaker and the Republican leadership for giving this House this opportunity to act in a way that is consistent with the constitution," you know there's trouble.

NYTimes: Yellen promises more of the same

Janet Yellen, Bernanke's replacement at the Fed, has promised more of the same old policies. According to her, the Federal Reserve has a positive outlook and expects continuity. She was part of the team that developed the current Fed plan on the economy. While Yellen points to a reduced unemployment rate, the Times are at least giving that credit not to the Fed, but to the discouraged workforce that is no longer seeking employment.

Zero Hedge: Economic Fallacy

If you're interested in a bit of a rant, this is your article. A guest post on ZeroHedge dealing with the state of economic fallacies we encounter daily. There is a good bit of quoted economists, such as Henry Hazlett. Enjoy.

Washington Post: Syria

Syria is a disaster.

Zero Hedge: American Imperialism and how to dismantle it

A guest post by Laurence Vance, from the Mises Institute, about the current state of American foreign policy. Since the Snowden leaks, more and more information has come to the surface in regards to NSA spying of foreign nations. Vance decides we need to go back and take a Jeffersonian approach to our foreign policy.

Politico: Rand Paul sues Obama, NSA

Rand Paul, the leading non-interventionist in the House, is suing the President as well as the NSA for violating the 4th amendment. Paul cites that the 4th Amendment protects the American people from general warrantless searches.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Daily News Byte

Republicans and Democrats fight about Obamacare

Ever since the release of the CBO's budget outlook, Republicans and Democrats have been cherry picking whatever they can spin to make themselves look good. Republicans are picking up on the reduction in labor force participation while Democrats are focusing on people's freedom from employer based health insurance.

CBO Jobs Report

This is the actual CBO budget outlook report. Since both parties are trying to spin it in their own favor, the best thing to do is actually read the report.

Boehner hit from the right on Immigration

Immigration reform is coming up against constant opposition. In Speaker Boehner's most recent bid, The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action were deeply involved in stopping any sort of reform. Conservative groups do not believe anything can be accomplished at this point in time because there is little trust in the President.

Heritage advises putting immigration reform on hold

With President Obama not enforcing the current immigration laws, the Heritage Foundation is asking why the people should trust him to make real reforms. It's pointless for the House to come together and try to make changes when the Executive won't enforce the existing laws.

NSA reducing amount of monitored calls

According to numerous reports, the NSA is only able to track around one third of all US calls. This number is drastically reduced due in large part to the shift from landline phones to cell phones. The President has tasked the NSA to make some adjustments to their data gathering program to help protect civil liberties by not allowing the NSA to store records. The ACLU, however, isn't reassured by these measures. And in all honesty, can we really trust these people? You know, the ones who lied to congress.

Next logical step for CVS: Ban Soda

CVS recently announced that it will no longer sell tobacco products. Because CVS sees itself more as a pharmacy and are more concerned with health, they see it contradictory to provide medicine and tobacco. Now, according to an opinion piece in the Boston Globe, the next logical step is to attack sugar. This means banning soda, candy, energy drinks and more. I'm sure local businesses are loving this decision.

President Obama doubles down on Executive authority

President Obama made the claim again that whenever he can use his executive authority on economic issues, he will. According to the President, stagnant wages for the middle class and increasing profits for the rich are not acceptable in the American economy. He promises to do everything within his power to build an economy that is fair and provides more opportunity. I guess for Obama his title isn't just Commander in Chief, it's also Economic Advisor in Chief.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

It keeps getting worse

European officials lash out at new NSA spying report http://news360.com/article/190600430

Friday, June 14, 2013

NSA vs Privacy

Ever since the Guardian broke the story of the NSA spying on Americans, the issue of privacy has been forced into the spotlight. Before this incident, the concept seemed to not be of much concern to the average American. We are now learning that people have very different views of privacy across the political spectrum. Ever since Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA’s PRISM program, news outlets are reporting what the political leaders of our nation think about this man and the merits of the program. House Speaker John Boehner has labeled him as a “traitor[1]”, and Diane Feinstein said the leak was an act of ‘treason’[2]. However, not all of our leaders in Congress agree with this assessment. Representatives like Rand Paul are trying to combat the NSA with a constitutional challenge[3] and the ACLU has already filed a lawsuit against the government[4]. There hasn't been much debate about the definition of privacy and what the 4^th amendment looks like in the digital age, especially when it comes to privacy vs. security.

In order to have a better understanding of privacy we need to return to the context in which the 4^th amendment was penned. From here we can draw parallels to modern times and come to a consensus. One of the best ways to get an understanding of the founders’ concept of privacy is to look back at the laws and treatises written in that day, and the University of Chicago’s The Founders’ Constitution provides us with that material. According this this book, one of the documents that influenced the Bill of Rights was the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Section 10 of the Declaration says,

That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted.[5]

This gives us a clear view of what privacy means to those in the state of Virginia in 1776 when this was written. Unless there is specific factual evidence, searches and seizures ‘ought not to be granted’. The state of Vermont had a section similar to Virginia and it reads,

That the people have a right to hold themselves, their houses, papers and possessions, free from search and seizure; and therefore warrants, without oaths or affirmations first made, affording a sufficient foundation for them… ought not to be granted.[6]

Again, the commonality between these two state laws places an emphasis on ‘evidence’ or ‘sufficient foundation’ for any search or seizure. It is clear that these had an impact on our current 4^th amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.[7]

The question is, do we still believe this today?

The answer seems to be yes and no. The tricky part is, what does this look like when the United States is engaged in a “War on Terror”? General consensus is that we the people must be willing to give up some of our freedom for the sake of security. The question is how much freedom we are willing to give up for the sake of ‘security.’ Pew research released the results of a poll with the question “Should the government be able to monitor everyone’s email to prevent possible terrorism?” and 45% of Americans said yes[8]. In essence, this means that almost half of the American public is willing to let the government snoop around their emails to prevent “possible terrorism”. The question implies that there is no evidence to back these searches; there is no ‘probable cause’ as required by the 4^th amendment. This is a major deviation from what Americans believed when the Bill of Rights was written. Fortunately, the United States wasn't founded as a pure democracy and there are laws that protect us from the ‘tyranny of the majority.’

Since it is obvious that many Americans do not care about the federal government obtaining ‘meta-data,’ the issue comes back to legality. Given the continuing wars and the Patriot Act, it’s hard to draw the line between security and privacy. Once we started fighting a war tactic (terrorism) we opened the doors to pursue individuals around the globe and even in our own country. Before the Patriot Act was passed there wasn't much debate about the repercussions of passing this legislation. In 2001, when the Patriot Act was passed, it was easy to see that many wanted this broad power given to the government because of the state of the nation. There were anthrax attacks, 9/11 had occurred only one month before, and America had rallied behind the President. However, that threat level is no longer on our minds. And while the threat level has decreased, the abuse of the law has grown. According to NBC News, the FBI increased its use of the Patriot Act by 1,000% last year[9], prompting the author of the Patriot Act to come forward and say that this administration has taken it too far[10]. The reassuring speeches representatives like Boehner and Feinstein give to us about ‘checks and balances’ in the system lose their credibility when the FISA court has only struck down 0.3% of surveillance requests[11]. But the damage has been done. The government has woven a web of precedent that grant them authority to increase their power when there is a ‘threat’ of terrorism and the government isn't obligated to tell the American people how or why they are collecting this information.

So what is the next step? There needs to be a challenge to the NSA’s PRISM program and their authority to track American citizens. Under the Bush administration, people like John Yoo were advocating for warrantless wiretapping of foreign nationals and the communication between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States[12]. This makes sense as long as the people being tracked are not citizens of the United States and are not protected by the Bill of Rights. The director of the NSA, Keith Alexander, testified in front of the Senate defending the program as thwarting terrorist activity in the US[13]. However, it appears evident that more than just phone records are being accessed and we do not know exactly what the NSA is obtaining. It is clear that during the time when the 4^th amendment was written, the government required probable cause. By obtaining information on every American and then claiming to connect the dots on ‘dozens’ of threats, millions of people have had their information obtained and stored by the NSA for 5 years without reason. The path that Rand Paul and the ACLU are taking appears to be the best course of action. The baseless seizure of American records is clearly in violation of the 4^th amendment due to its lack of ‘probable cause.’ We cannot allow the government to view the people as guilty until proven innocent. We understand the threat of terrorism is real, but when the government tells us we are always under this threat as long as terrorists are trying to attack us, we will never get our freedoms back.