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> The author of the Patriot Act, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, reminded the government that the act was up for renewal in 2015. The provisions for phone metad

> The author of the Patriot Act, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, reminded the government that the act was up for renewal in 2015. The provisions for phone metadata collection, he warned, have "got to be changed … otherwise in a year or year and a half you're not going to have it any more." Wait? That's the threat? Shouldn't they have to prove that they have sensible "provisions" before they get to keep doing it? Or how about, we are going to take immediate action and you come back to us when you have sensible provisions.

mtgx 13y ago
How about we repeal (or at least let expire) both the Patriot Act and FISA Amendments Act, and then we start over from scratch, and have a real 2+ year national debate on what NSA's job should be and what level of oversight they need to have. Also, don't even think about putting back the "general warrant" provision in the laws. That is and will always be unconstitutional. You have a target? Ask a judge to give you a normal warrant, for that target, or for several targets at most - not a whole country.
- rayiner 13y ago
  You're not going to get anywhere with the argument that the NSA needs to get a regular warrant for all investigations. The specific warrant requirement has never applied to their purely foreign intelligence activities.
j_baker 13y ago
Who determines what provisions are sensible? Clearly the intelligence community can't do it unilaterally, because nobody would buy it. And we're talking about years before Congress or god forbid the courts can take any actions. Do you think it's a good idea to shut the NSA down until then?
- drcube 13y ago
  Yes.