Obama Promises to Strengthen Privacy in State of the Union Speech—Rand Paul Would End Domestic Spying
And it's way past time that lying domestic spying agency chiefs should be punished.
In his State of the Union message President Obama assured Americans that …
…while some have moved on from the debates over our surveillance programs, I haven't. As promised, our intelligence agencies have worked hard, with the recommendations of privacy advocates, to increase transparency and build more safeguards against potential abuse. And next month, we'll issue a report on how we're keeping our promise to keep our country safe while strengthening privacy.
Let's keep a sharp eye out for the report, but the response by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to unconstitutional domestic spying is much more forthright. The senator notes that Washington elites say
… "trust us, we won't violate your privacy."
But when the Intelligence Director is not punished for lying to Congress, how are we to trust them?
Are we to trust them to collect and hold every American's phone records?
Remember, these are the same people who have only a 10 percent approval rating!
The Constitution is clear. Politicians should NOT collect this information without a warrant. Warrants must be specific to an individual and there must be probable cause before government is allowed to search any American's documents.
The President created this vast dragnet by Executive Order without Congressional authority. He should immediately end this invasion of our privacy.
End it, not issue a report.
And by the way, pardon Edward Snowden.