Two former members of Congress – both now affiliated with the Project for Privacy and Surveillance – are warning Americans that they need to be protected – from their own government.
Article by Bob Unruh from our news partners at WND News Center.
Mark Udall, a former Democrat Colorado senator, and Bob Goodlatte, a former GOP congressman from Virginia, have written at Real Clear Politics that the problem is real.
“Our federal government has a limitless appetite for ever more access to our information. A proposal bandied about on Capitol Hill earlier this year would report transactions in Americans’ bank accounts that cumulatively exceed $10,000. This plan would give the government warrantless and ready access regarding whomever we do business, befriend, which causes we support and aspects of our personal lives we’d rather keep to ourselves. If Congress should approve this financial snooping proposal, however, it would merely be one more step in taking away whatever privacy Americans still enjoy,” they said.
“Consider: When you walk down the street, cell-site simulators, known as ‘stingrays,’ permit the police to ‘spoof’ your cellphone to scoop up your most personal data. At the federal level, at least 16 agencies are reported to be involved in such collections. The government at all levels also wields facial recognition technology that allows it to upload your visage to identify you and instantly amass your social media accounts and posts. At a glance, the government can know a great deal about your politics, religion and personal life.”
Further, “When you sit down at a computer, the government can extract your emails, browsing history and social media activities enabled by no law, but by an executive order known as 12333. These activities are justified to combat terrorism, but the broad sweep of personal information from keyword searches goes well beyond the warrants and the need to search for particular facts required by the Fourth Amendment.”
Then, too, when the government wants it, it can “purchase your most sensitive and personal information from data brokers. Even members of Congress are vulnerable to such intrusions,” they warn.
“So for all the lurid – and accurate – stories about how the People’s Republic of China has become an Orwellian surveillance state, we would do well to also focus on threats closer to home,” they warn. “Americans are beginning to wake up to the extent to which technology and U.S. government policies are placing us in fishbowls.”
Their recommendations include adopting the “Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act,” to close the loophole that lets federal agencies buy citizens’ private data, as well as approve a plan by Sens. Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee to subject the FBI’s warrant applications before the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to the scrutiny of court-appointed experts in civil liberties.
Finally, Congress should hold hearings to discover the scale of 12333 surveillance, they said.
“We should not deceive ourselves, however, about how tough it will be to restore privacy to the American people. Much is happening because of our government’s limitless appetite for our information. The degradation of our privacy is also being driven by the relentlessly growing power of technology.”
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We just launched a new GiveSendGo page. We also have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
Our politicians, government employees and the military the only enemy the U.S people actually have.