The USA (Un)PATRIOT(ic) Act is poised to become the (mostly) permanent law of the land:
The agreement ensures the extension of all 16 provisions of the law that were set to expire in six weeks. Fourteen will be extended permanently, and the remaining two - dealing with the government’s demands for business and library records and its use of roving wiretaps - will be extended for seven years.
Don’t worry, though, it’s not like the government would ever abuse this power. After all, it’s not like they’ve gone about torturing people, detaining citizens indefinitely without access to the legal system, or obtaining the records of citizens without obtaining a formal warrant.
Oh crap… I guess they have done all of those things.
If you ever needed incentive to call your elected representatives, the government’s abuse of its power over the course of the past four years should be all that you need.
