Quote of the Day:

"It seems the telecoms, who are claiming they were just being 'good patriots' when they allowed the government to spy on us without warrants, are more than willing to pull the plug on national security investigations when the government falls behind on its bills . . . It sounds as though the telecoms believe it when the FBI says the warrant is in the mail, but not when they say the check is in the mail."

 - Mike German

Subject: TELL YOUR SENATORS TO LET THE "PROTECT AMERICA ACT" EXPIRE!

The "Protect America Act" (PAA) was rushed through Congress last August. It legalized executive branch domestic wiretapping without warrants. Now this law is scheduled to sunset out of existence unless Congress moves to extend the date.

It's possible the PAA could sunset. The Senate can't agree on replacement legislation, so Senate leaders want to extend the PAA sunset date to allow time for more negotiation. But there's opposition to the extension in the Senate. We need to support that opposition.

Please encourage your Senator to vote against any extension of the PAA sunset date. You can do so here.

We need all-hands-on-deck to pressure the Senate, because the Bush administration is fighting dirty.

This week National Intelligence Czar, Mike McConnell, fought to preserve PAA by claiming that the 9-11 attacks happened because al-Queada exploited our weak domestic wiretap laws.

Well, guess what? Warrantless wiretapping started BEFORE 9/11.

Sadly, this "Invent-a-Claim" approach by the administration has been effective in the past, scaring a spineless Democratic majority into submission. Usually, by the time the latest "Invent-a-claim" has been debunked, it's too late.

In other news, Reuters informs us that the telecom companies pulled the plug on a FISA warrant for a time because the FBI failed to pay its bill. So much for Michael Moore's claim that at least the federal government is highly competent at writing checks. But this event also undermines the already weak case for granting retroactive immunity to those telecoms that participated in the illegal spying program. (Reuters story)

We are told that these companies acted for patriotic reasons to aid national security, but now we know the truth. We like how former FBI agent Mike German put it, "It sounds as though the telecoms believe it when the FBI says the warrant is in the mail, but not when they say the check is in the mail."

TELL YOUR SENATORS TO LET THE "PROTECT AMERICA ACT" EXPIRE!  They're back to work on Tuesday.

Do it now. Do it here.

Thank you for being part of the growing Downsize DC Army. And see the media notice below the signature.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

P.S. I'm on the Jerry Hughes show today. Please tune in, call in, and/or send an email question or comment. This show is a great opportunity to spread the Downsizer message. Please support the show. You can do so by listening, but especially by calling-in or sending an email.

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