Welfare of the people,the alibi of tyrants

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants — Albert Camus

America is slowly moving toward abandoning those rights endowed to us by our Creator and protected by the United States Constitution.

This week brought revelations about the federal government’s data mining by collecting phone records, credit card spending information and Internet data from virtually every telephone and computer in the country, regardless of probable cause. They go to FISA courts to get approval in secret and the people being spied upon don’t have to know.

When FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978) was passed, many people (including me) naïvely thought it would only be used to spy upon U.S./Foreign communication and all with some sort of probable cause. Now we know they are collecting data from all communications, all interaction with the Internet, even that which is totally domestic.

The government is proposing, or has already approved, the collection of other kinds of personal information about each and every person in the United States.

A key part of Obamacare is its electronic data component. Doctors will have to comply with Health Information Technology standards regarding storing and sharing through a massive database the personal health records of each patient. Think about what could happen with these massive databases when the information is accessed by the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board), the so-called “Death Panels.”

And don’t forget the recent Supreme Court decision that says the police can take a person’s DNA upon arrest, before conviction. Do I believe that police officers are going to start taking DNA swabs from people who run stop signs? Not today, but can we really say never? Did you ever think the government would be able to compel someone to purchase healthcare?

Under eminent domain, the government can (and does) seize private property for public use — to build a road, a school, or a courthouse, for example.

But did you know the courts have ruled the government can also seize your land for private use if they can prove that doing it will serve what’s called “the public good”? Cities across the country use eminent domain to force people off their land, so private developers can build more expensive homes or stores, etc., that will pay more in property taxes than the buildings they’re replacing. The government needs more income to provide us with additional services, so does it really matter if they take away some freedom for the public good?

The Transportation Department wanted to force all new cars to have “black boxes” like airplanes. These boxes would record speed, direction, breaking, and other rudimentary driving data. The government could use the black boxes to track where someone is going. Would that happen today? No! Could it happen tomorrow?

As a regular New York subway rider, every time I pass through the turnstiles and swipe my MetroCard there is a record of where I entered the subway system. How hard would it be to figure out my daily commute from that record? Do you have an E-Z Pass on your car? That is all tracked. How about your TV? Do you have cable or satellite? It’s basically a computer system that could be mined to see what and when you watch TV. These viewing habits data is great information for TV programmers and advertisers, but what if the government got its hands on the data?

I am not saying that government is gathering this, or intending to do this … but is it that far out of line?

Do we want our government to spy on the free press as they did with James Rosen and the Associated Press? These incidents may be rather benign compared to what could be done, like the DOJ using phone taps to get damaging information about a news service or reporter as black mail to get them to change a story.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the IRS and Department of Health and Human Services are working together to create the largest personal information database the government has ever attempted. Known as the Federal Data Services Hub, the project is taking the IRS’s own records (for income and employment status) and centralizing them with information from Social Security (identity), Homeland Security (citizenship), Justice (criminal history, and in the future, DNA), HHS (enrollment in entitlement programs and certain medical claims data) and state governments (residency).

The data hub will be used as the verification system for Obamacare’s complex subsidy formula. Insurers, self-insured businesses and government health programs must submit reports to the IRS about the individuals they cover, which the IRS will crosscheck against tax returns. This is the same IRS under investigation for “attacking” conservative groups.

Could government combine the Federal Data hub information with the phone, Internet, credit card purchases, health data, and where you travel into one giant database that knows everything about everyone?

This is not to say that the current administration will (or even has the desire to) do this — however, it can be done, and if we don’t stop it, and stop it fast, it will be done.

Our representatives must be forced to explain what they are doing to protect our freedoms, not generalities but specifics.

n How will they amend FISA to guarantee Americans won’t be spied upon?

n How will they change the tax code so we can eliminate an all-powerful IRS whose modus operandi is to collect information about and intimidate American taxpayers?

n Will they vote to block funding for Obamacare to the point of filibuster (and that’s just a start)?

There is a tale about Benjamin Franklin, that he emerged from Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, and a woman asked him, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Mr. Franklin replied, “A republic, madam — if you can keep it.”

Folks we still have that republic, and thankfully it is still the freest republic ever created in the history of the world. But if we want to keep it, the number one issue for each and every one of us must be taking back those freedoms we have allowed our government to take away. If we don’t do it today, we might not be able to do it tomorrow.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of the political blog “The Lid” (www.jeffdunetz.com).