Sunday, November 21, 2004

grand inquisitors

Who won the cold war?

I thought America did... then why is the GOP trying to subject us to Soviet-style government?

A carefully orchestrated climate of fear, the creation of a Gulag (in Cuba no less), imperial wars, and now the 'secret' evisceration of our liberties:

Talking Points Memo, by Joshua Micah Marshall: "...As you've probably heard, the congress is pushing through a big omnibus spending bill this weekend. And at the last minute, Republican leaders tried to slip in a provision that would give certain committee chairman and their staffers unlimited access to any American's tax return, with none of the standard privacy protections applying.

You heard that right.

They could pull anyone's tax return, read it over and do whatever they wanted with the information. Those who would have this power would be the chairs and ranking members of the senate and house appropriations committees and subcommittees and 'their designees.'

The key is that the privacy rights provisions, and criminal and civil penalties that go with them, don't apply for the appropriations committees...."