About the same thing if everything I've been told about those long gone guys is to be believed:
"Republicans block NSA overhaul in Senate" by Charlie Savage and Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times November 19, 2014
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a sweeping overhaul of the once-secret National Security Agency program that collects records of Americans’ phone calls in bulk.
Democrats and a handful of Republicans who supported the measure failed to secure the 60 votes they needed to take up the legislation. The vote was 58-42 for consideration.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, worked hard to defeat the bill, which had the support of the Obama administration and a coalition of technology companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.
“This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind our backs,” McConnell said before the vote, expressing the concerns of those who say the program is a vital tool in the fight against terrorism.
Both senators from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, supported it.
I really don't know how to feel about the bill because every time they pass something like this it results in the government bestowing more power onto themselves. Even if it is some sort of protection, the fact is the data collection continues unabated and in secret.
Tuesday’s vote only put off a fractious debate over security and personal liberties until next year. While a Republican-controlled Senate is less likely to go along with the reforms that were in the bill, which sponsors had named the USA Freedom Act, the debate could further expose rifts between the party’s interventionist and more libertarian-leaning wings.
Under the bill, which grew out of the disclosures by Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor, the NSA would have gotten out of the business of collecting Americans’ phone records. Instead, most of the records would stay in the hands of the phone companies, which would not have been required to hold on to the records any longer than they already do for normal business purposes.
The NSA, Snowden revealed, was systematically collecting such telephone metadata — information about who called whom, but not the content of what was said — from major US phone companies.
Actually, the content was recorded, too, but that's my obfuscatory pre$$ for you.
The program began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, based on an assertion of unilateral executive power by President George W. Bush.
We had a dictator even back then! A torturer, too!
In 2006, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court secretly brought the program under its authority and issued orders under the Patriot Act to companies for the records.
Why is the FOREIGN COURT involved in DOMESTIC CALLS?
The proposed legislation would still have allowed analysts to perform so-called contact chaining, in which they trace a suspect’s network of acquaintances, but they would have been required to use a new kind of court order to swiftly obtain only records that were linked, up to two layers away, to a suspect — even when held by different phone companies.
It is currently something like four links of separation, which means millions upon millions are being swept up despite no foreign dealings at all.
In January, President Obama unveiled some changes, including requiring court approval before a new number can be used to query the database, and limiting analysts to scrutinizing the records of callers two layers removed.
The Republican-controlled House passed a version of the bill in May, but it was watered down before passage, losing the support of civil liberties groups. With the bill’s defeat in the Senate, Congress faces a hard deadline for new legislation since the legal basis for the phone records program, a provision of the Patriot Act, expires in June.
After that, when the 90-day orders to phone companies requiring them to turn over their customers’ records expire, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court would be unable to issue a new round of orders.
The Obama administration, warning of the potential for “brinkmanship and uncertainty” next spring if the bill was not passed, had strongly urged the Senate to support it.
And it may not be any easier for a new compromise to be reached over the bill next year. Some of its opponents, like Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, believed it went too far in curbing the NSA. Others, like Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, thought it did not go far enough.
One possibility would be a bill that is scaled back enough to win over more hawkish Republicans, while relying on the votes of some Democrats who were more skeptical of broad-based reform, like Senator Dianne Feinstein of California.
But resistance from inside the Republican Party has been unrelenting. Before Tuesday’s vote, two former officials from the Bush administration — Michael B. Mukasey, the former attorney general, and Michael V. Hayden, the former NSA and CIA director — essentially called the bill a gift to terrorists in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal that carried the headline “NSA Reform That Only ISIS Could Love.”
I'm only wondering who could be enablers of such a thing?
--more--"
"NSA surveillance reform debate to return next Congress" by Cat Zakrzewski, Globe Correspondent November 20, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday voted 58 to 42 on a procedural motion that would have allowed a vote on whether to overhaul the program.
But that was two votes short of the needed 60 votes, effectively tabling the issue. Four Republicans joined one Democrat in opposition.
Since revelations about the extent of NSA’s programs first surfaced a year and a half ago, the debate has not fallen strictly on party lines, with lawmakers from both parties defending and criticizing the programs.
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, has warned about the national security risks involved with ending the program, while prominent Republicans, such as possible 2016 presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have decried the NSA as overreaching.
The day before the vote, the White House released a statement supporting the bill.
Before the vote, there was optimism that the Freedom Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat, could gain enough bipartisan support to reach the floor.
Looking ahead, privacy rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation say they have not given up the fight....
--more--"
Here is one they have, in fact, finally given up on:
"Lawmakers move to strip former Nazis of Social Security benefits" by Richard Lardner | Associated Press November 14, 2014
Now that they are all dead and after the program has served the interests of Israel all these years.
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to strip suspected Nazi war criminals of their Social Security benefits.
The Nazi Social Security Benefits Termination Act comes in response to an Associated Press investigation published in October that revealed millions of dollars in benefits have been paid to dozens of former Nazis who were forced out of the United States. At least four are alive in Europe.
The legislation would end benefits for Nazi suspects who have lost their US citizenship, a step called denaturalization. US law currently requires a higher threshold — a final order of deportation — before benefits can be terminated. A companion bill to change the policy was introduced in the Senate.
Mike Long, a spokesman for House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said ‘‘we’re eager to get this done’’ during the lame-duck session that will last until a new Congress begins in late January.
It shows you, really, how slavish these guys are to Jewish interests, folks.
AP’s investigation found that the Justice Department used Social Security benefits to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the United States. If they agreed to go voluntarily, or left the country before being deported, they could keep their Social Security benefits. The Justice Department denied using Social Security payments as a tool for expelling former Nazis.
Just ignore the ones brought over during ‘Operation Paperclip.’
--more--"
Related: A New Look at the Good War
"House approves bill to stop Nazi benefit payments" Associated Press December 03, 2014
WASHINGTON — Suspected Nazi war criminals would be blocked from receiving Social Security benefits under a bill unanimously approved Tuesday by the House.
The measure would shut a loophole that allowed suspected Nazis to be paid millions of dollars in benefits. Under the bill, benefits would be terminated for Nazi suspects who have lost their American citizenship, a step called denaturalization. US law currently mandates a higher threshold — a final order of deportation — before Social Security benefits can be stopped.
The legislation was introduced after an Associated Press investigation published in October revealed that Social Security benefits have been paid to dozens of former Nazis after they were forced out of the United States.
The investigation found that the Justice Department used a legal loophole to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the United States in exchange for the benefits.
If they agreed to go voluntarily, or simply fled the country before being deported, they could keep their benefits. The Justice Department denied using Social Security payments as a way to expel former Nazis.
Representative Leonard Lance, a New Jersey Republican, said the House action would ‘‘correct an injustice of two generations and right a terrible wrong in the name of the lives that were lost as a result of the Holocaust.’’
Honestly, I'm tired of having that distorted version of history waved in my face.
The House vote came as two Republican senators demanded that the Obama administration provide Congress with records explaining how suspected Nazis received the payments and the role the Justice Department played in the program.
Another scandal for something that I'm sure has been going on for a long time?
--more--"
"Congress sends president bill to cut Nazi benefits" Associated Press December 06, 2014
WASHINGTON — A bill that would block suspected Nazi war criminals from receiving Social Security benefits is heading to President Obama for his signature.
By voice vote late Thursday, the Senate approved a measure that would shut a loophole allowing suspected Nazis to be paid millions of dollars in benefits.
They can act when.... well, you know. Not you.
Under the No Social Security for Nazis Act, benefits would be terminated for suspects who have lost their American citizenship, a step called denaturalization. US law currently requires a higher threshold — a final order of deportation — before Social Security benefits can be stopped.
The legislation was introduced after an Associated Press investigation revealed that Social Security benefits have been paid to dozens of former Nazis after they were forced out of the United States.
I can't but help wonder why.
The House unanimously approved the bill on Tuesday.
The legislation united Republicans and Democrats, who expressed outrage that US taxpayers were unwittingly financing the retirement of individuals who participated in the Third Reich’s atrocities during World War II.
Don't president's and congre$$ional leaders get pretty good deals? No one raising much of a fuss in the ma$$ media about those war criminals, or the aid to Israeli war criminals.
The White House said Friday it agreed with the thrust of the legislation and is reviewing the bill. A Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, said the department supports the goal of terminating federal public benefits for individuals found to have participated in the Nazi persecution during World War II.
--more--"
What else is going on over at Social Security?
"Pick to head Social Security defends her integrity
WASHINGTON — A day after her nomination ran into trouble in the Senate, President Obama’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration passionately defended her integrity, her long career in government, and her handling of a troubled computer project she inherited from a predecessor.
‘‘I’ve always met the highest ethical standards,’’ Carolyn W. Colvin said Thursday. ‘‘I’ve worked in government my entire life. There’s never been a suggestion, personal or professional, of any wrongdoing.’’
Exactly the kind of vampiric $cum we do not want anymore.
‘‘I’m certainly not ending my career with that,’’ Colvin continued. ‘‘I came out of retirement to help this organization, not hurt it.’’
That's when the antennae go up! Government is here to help, yup.
Obama nominated Colvin to a six-year term as commissioner of the agency in June. She has been acting commissioner since February 2013. Before that, she was the agency’s deputy commissioner since 2010.
A group of Republican senators plans to try to block Colvin’s nomination while investigators look into a $300 million computer project that does not work. In a letter to Colvin, all 11 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee said there is evidence that Social Security officials have misled Congress and investigators about problems with the project.
Really?
The senators wrote that they cannot let a nomination proceed to a vote ‘‘as long as the specter of a potential criminal investigation surrounds the nominee,’’ that person’s inner circle, or both. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance Committee, leads the group.
Six years ago, Social Security embarked on an aggressive plan to replace outdated computer systems overwhelmed by disability claims. But the project has been racked by delays and mismanagement, according to an assessment commissioned by the agency over the summer.
Who did that work anyway, and why do they remain anonymous?
--more--"
Did you $ee how much the Nazis cost us?
"IG: Improper disability claims cost taxpayers $2b" Associated Press November 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — A handful of Social Security judges have improperly approved disability claims for nearly 25,000 people who didn’t qualify, costing taxpayers $2 billion over the past seven years, government investigators conclude in a report to be released Monday.
The price tag will grow by nearly $300 million next year because many of these people are still getting benefits, the report said.
Outrageou$!
Investigators from Social Security’s office of inspector general examined cases decided by 44 judges who had been approving disability claims at unusually high rates.
The judges were labeled ‘‘outliers’’ because they had approved 85 percent of claims they heard in at least two of the previous seven years.
The judges represent about 4 percent of the administrative law judges who decide disability claims for Social Security, the report said.
What, were they getting kickbacks or just bleeding hearts?
‘‘The Social Security Administration’s failure to conduct timely medical eligibility reviews has resulted in rubber-stamped decisions that have and will continue to cost taxpayers billions in improper awards,’’ said US Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican. ‘‘In failing to take meaningful disciplinary action at the Social Security Administration, even after the most egregious cases of mismanagement, taxpayers are left to wonder, who is looking after their tax dollars?’’
No one when it comes to defen$e contractor cost overruns or Wall Street schemes.
The report said improved oversight of judges in the past several years has reduced the number who approve claims at unusually high rates.
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Related:
"In a bipartisan show of unity, the 404-to-17 vote approves the most sweeping legislation to help the disabled since 1990, affecting as many as 54 million disabled people and their families who often struggle to pay for intensive forms of care.
No, no, no, they were wrongly awarded benefits.
It now goes to the Senate, where it was expected to move quickly to passage in the coming days at a time when Congress is bitterly divided over immigration, taxes, and spending. House members touted the bill as evidence that both parties can get things done. Dozens of supporters of the bill, including parents of children with Down syndrome, were in the House chamber as lawmakers cast their votes, waiting in anticipation after years of pushing the legislation. William Daroff of the Jewish Federations of North America, which co-chairs the Jewish Disability Network, called it a tremendous day."
Can there really be anymore doubt regarding jwho this government serves?
"A system Congress established to speed help to Americans harmed by vaccines has instead heaped additional suffering on thousands of families."
The two kind of go hand-in-hand, don't they -- seeing as the vaccines are often responsible for the disabilities.
Interestingly enough, the pharmaceutical industry also carries as much lobbying power as Israel, maybe even more.
Congress clears bipartisan bill to revamp federal child care aid
The Democratic-led Senate voted 88 to cut food stamps.
Food stamps for fresh food: More produce, more benefits
You might want to skip the lunch.
Of course, such things could never happen here.
