d, and the persons or things to be seized..." Unless a Federal Agent could convince a judge with sworn testimony that a crime had probably been committed, no warrant would issue to search or seize a citizen or a citizen's property.

But the Patriot Act did away with the checks and balances of the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Now federal agents can search your house or office without any showing of probable cause that a crime had been committed. They can access your medical records, your financial records, your school records and you are not allowed to know that they have done so. Agents can now search you and take your property if they are "suspicious" of you. No longer must they need to convince a judge that a crime was probably committed before getting a warrant.

The Patriot Act is blatantly unconstitutional. Here are your rights that are threatened:

1st Amendment - Freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and the press.

4th Amendment - Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.

5th Amendment - No person to be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

6th Amendment - Right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury, right to be informed of the facts of the accusation, right to confront witnesses and have the assistance of counsel.

8th Amendment - No excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment shall be imposed.

14th Amendment - All persons (citizens and non-citizens) within the US are entitled to due process and the equal protection of the laws.

And how was the Patriot Act passed in the House? In the wee hours of the morning, the bill that had been previously discussed in the House was massively changed to insert onerous provisions that the Justice Department demanded. Later that day the vote was taken. Congressmen had NO CHANCE to read the new bill before they voted on it. There were no hearings. There was no committee review. There was no meaningful debate.The 340 page bill that no one read was passed with a substantial majority.

And the solemn oath taken by every Congressman to uphold and defend the Constitution? Wilfully violated by everyone of them that voted for the Patriot Act.

We send our elected representatives to Washington DC to REPRESENT US! We expect them to review and understand the issues and proposed laws that come before Congress. We expect them to consider, analyze and come to a reasonable conclusion as to the bills that should be supported and those that should be opposed. They are expected to vote only after they have done their homework, and not before. To do less than this is to betray their constitutency!

Every Representative who voted for the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act should be brought up in their Congressional District for recall. They violated their oath to protect and defend the Constitution. They violated the trust of their constituents who sent them to Washington to REPRESENT THEM, not to be rubber stamps and vote for an earthshaking bill that strips of us of our constitutional rights without even reading it!

The shame of our country is that most who voted without reading the Patriot Act were re-elected! It is our own fault, fellow Americans, that we have such egregiously bad laws!

Here is a way to take action to reclaim the country that we are rapidly losing. Please consider participating.

Don Stacey

http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive63.htm

CITIZENS DEMAND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS READ LEGISLATION BEFORE THEY VOTE

December 9, 2004

Posted 1:12 AM Eastern

NewsWithViews.com

Downsize.org is a citizen activism group asking millions of Americans to sign a petition demanding that members of Congress read any bills or legislation before they vote on them. Much publicity was given to the fact that few, if any, members of Congress read any part of the 2400 page NAFTA treaty which has gutted America's agricultural, manufacturing and industrial base.

In a much publicized challenge, only one U.S. Senator, Hank Brown [R-CO] who retired after one term, read the entire 28,000 page GATT treaty which has led to what many charge is the abrogation of America's sovereignty to a world body.

There was considerable outrage when the American people found out that members of Congress weren't even allowed to read the text of the Patriot Act, but were told to just vote on it. A few members like Ron Paul [R-TX] balked, but the majority went along, never read the text and voted on it anyway. .

How many members of Congress actually read the 3,200 page, $388 billion omnibus appropriations bill which was passed during Thanksgiving week? No one seems to know, but once again, the latest budget passed by Congress will be bringing home the pork. According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, below represents 11,772 earmarks at a cost of $15,780,533,623:

$25,000: Curriculum development for the study of mariachi music, Clark County School Distinct, NV, Labor-HHS.

$25,000: Banana Factory for an arts and technology after school program, Bethlehem, PA, Labor-HHS.

$45,000: A+ for Abstinence for abstinence education and related services, Waynesboro, PA, Labor-HHS.

Snip

© 2004 NewsWithViews.com - All Rights Reserved

Babka Blog

Jim Babka's Blog

Thursday, November 18, 2004

George W. Bush and the party of Borrow and Spend

Here are some facts and figures to make your stomach turn... When George W. Bush became President, $5.6 trillion in surpluses were projected for the next 10 years. [Now, those are accounting surpluses, not actual surpluses, as Social Security was counted as income.] But that figure has been transformed to $2.3 trillion in deficits [by the same standard] now estimated for the coming decade.

The last Clinton increase in the debt ceiling was 1997. There have been increases in the debt ceiling in 2002 and 2003. This week, there will be another one. And there will very likely be one in 2005. As the Washington Post reported, "Completion of the debt limit measure would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion. That is $2.23 trillion higher than when Bush became president, and more than eight times the debt President Reagan faced when he took office in 1981."

For an interesting perspective on other problems with raising the debt ceiling, check out a statement by Congressman Ron Paul: http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul213.html

www.DownsizeDC.org tackled this problem by running radio ads on more than 50 stations today, combined with direct constituent contact using their Electronic Lobbyist System.

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