Senator Rand Paul Filibustering NSA Surveillance Parts of The Patriot Act

[Chef Ramsay]

Sen. Rand Paul announced Wednesday afternoon he’s attempting to filibuster the extension of the Patriot Act, vowing to use all his legislative powers to try to end the snooping law.

The Kentucky Republican’s speech, which began at 1:18 p.m., is not technically holding up any legislation because the Senate is actually currently debating a trade bill, but Mr. Paul said his move was a filibuster nonetheless, as he vowed to hold the floor until he couldn’t go any longer.

“It’s time to end the NSA spying,” his official Twitter account said in a post at 1:36 p.m., as he was on the floor.

Mr. Paul is waging a lonely fight, demanding that the government stop snooping without probable cause or a warrant. That’s a step beyond even some of his other erstwhile civil libertarian allies who want to curtail the Patriot Act’s bulk collection, but would still allow government agents to go after the records of individuals without first seeking a warrant.
 
Indeed, the lonely fight was underscored by the scene on the Senate floor in the middle of the afternoon: Mr. Paul was the only senator present, save for the one Republican required to be in the presiding officer’s chair.
 
Armed with binders, file folders and a barely touched glass of water, he paced behind his desk on the right wing of the Senate, occasionally flipping through notes to find his place as he offered a lengthy discussion of the Obama administration’s duplicity in maintaining the National Security Agency’s snooping program.

Mr. Obama’s top intelligence official testified to Congress that they were not storing bulk information about Americans’ phone calls, when in fact they were doing that under the NSA’s program.

Congress is pushing up against a deadline for deciding what to do about three provisions of the Patriot Act that are slated to expire at the end of the month. Among those is Section 215, which the Bush and Obama administrations have claimed justifies the NSA program.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/20/rand-paul-filibusters-against-patriot-act-nsa-snoo/#ixzz3ailf6lRy

I thought this deserved a thread unto itself rather than just keep it tucked away in my other thread on Rand. He's about 5.5 hrs into this filibuster and may go long into the night and perhaps into the later morning or after noon. Remember the filibuster he did on drones a few years back? He'll get plenty of national news coverage by tomorrow as it was already front and center on The Drudge Report today, which is the most viewed public affairs website in the US and likely the world. This will definitely set him apart from the Presidential candidates pack and this is a huge issue considering the courts already ruled this bulk collection of data by the NSA is illegal and the US House passed the USA Freedom Act last week which would overturn the Patriot Act.

Live stream: http://www.politico.com/livestream/
Live blogging: http://iroots.org/2015/05/20/breakin...ate-floor-now/

Activism Alerts:
Call Congress now to ask them if they #StandWithRand? Get them on record and ask them to sunset the badly named 'Patriot Act.' Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Update: There are a handful of US House members joining on the Senate floor to support Rand and Democratic Senators Manchin (WV), Coons (DE), Wyden (OR), Tester (MT) and Heinrich (NM) & Republican Senators Lee (UT)and Daines (MT) have spoken on the floor along w/ Rand to support getting rid of this crap. This is Epic folks, do your part!

Tweet https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/601079082676318208 and keep it standing or insert #StandWithRand in your tweets about this subject.

[Chef Ramsay]

If you're legally allowed to donate, send him some coinage for his efforts on this or wait til tomorrow and tally up how many hours he put in and then give him a certain donation per hour.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul digs in on NSA surveillance

More than two years after a 13-hour filibuster, the Kentucky senator and 2016 GOP presidential contender is back on the Senate floor. This time, he's protesting the National Security Agency's dragnet surveillance programs targeting Americans.

"There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now and I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged," Paul said at the opening of his remarks.

The Senate is considering this week whether to reauthorize a crucial section of the Patriot Act or reform the law to rein in the government's sweeping powers to collect phone metadata on millions of Americans in an effort to thwart terrorist plots. The House last week overwhelmingly approved a bill to reform that law.

The NSA's bulk collection program expires at midnight on June 1, and the Department of Justice warned in a memo shared by a GOP aide on Wednesday that the agency will have to begin preparing several days before the expiration date for a potential lapse in the law.

More...http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/20/politics/rand-paul-filibuster-patriot-act-nsa-surveillance/index.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Some notes on the what and why, based on some things Rand has said:

- he would let the Patriot Act expire, but acknowledges this is not likely to happen without 41 votes
- the typical strategy for getting unpopular legislation passed is to keep it off the floor until the last moment, then using alarmist tactics to push for votes from Senators who haven't even read the text.
- because of the rush to get it passed, there is no time for discussing amendments
- sometimes, Senators will vote for a bill, but later will take it apart.
- Rand wants to get leadership to allow amendments on the floor, this is why he is filibustering

a couple possible amendments:
- no generalized warrants (must have a person's name and not "verizon")
- something to prevent using foreign intercepts as a pretext to capture US citizens' communications.

[bryant.coleman]

He is a real brave guy. Residents of Kentucky are quite lucky to have him as the senate representative. Still I am sad that none of the other politicians (with the exception of Sen. Ron Wyden) are supporting his move. Rand is never afraid to make his views heard. I still remember his filibuster in 2013, against the appointment of John Brennan.

Nice to see one courageous man stand up amongst a sea of congressional cowards.

[Chef Ramsay]

He is a real brave guy. Residents of Kentucky are quite lucky to have him as the senate representative. Still I am sad that none of the other politicians (with the exception of Sen. Ron Wyden) are supporting his move. Rand is never afraid to make his views heard. I still remember his filibuster in 2013, against the appointment of John Brennan.

Nice to see one courageous man stand up amongst a sea of congressional cowards.

Yep, he's one of the real American Badasses and so is Sen. Wyden on some issues. Wyden Oops, Sen Blumenthal (D-CT) just showed back up and is on live now giving Rand a spell to chill. Join the viewing party and chat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14468&v=zsw5iGFu2rg

[Chef Ramsay]

10 Great Points in Rand Paul’s Patriot Act Attack

I don't know whether Rand Paul's ongoing Senate talkfest will succeed in running out the clock on the Patriot Act, or (as he is seeking) opening up a debate and amendment process, but I do know that—just like his 2013 exercise—these have been some of the most invigorating hours on C-SPAN in recent memory.

1) Warrants need to be "individualized," because collective law enforcement is the root of much evil.

Paul's root opposition to the Patriot Act is that it is being used as the legal justification for the collection of bulk data against unsuspecting U.S. citizens who no one believes have committed a crime. His opposition to the reforming USA Freedom Act is that it still allows the government to compel third-party companies like Verizon to cough up 100 percent of its customer metadata.

Either way, Paul has stressed all day, this is antithetical to both the Fourth Amendment and the American tradition of individual rights. Collective guilt is what underpinned the segregationist horrors of the Jim Crow south, and of the indefensible internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The people who really need the Bill of Rights, he has said, are not the prom queens and homecoming kings, but people who are in a disfavored minority, whether ideological, religious, or racial.

2) Internet/telephone/data companies should put up "unified resistance" to federal compulsion to turn over user data.

More...http://reason.com/blog/2015/05/20/10-great-points-in-rand-pauls-patriot-ac

[Chef Ramsay]

Ted Cruz is AWOL on Rand Paul's Filibuster

Senator Ted Cruz appears to be AWOL during Rand Paul’s historic (and ongoing) filibuster of the badly named ‘Patriot Act’ and illegal NSA spying on American citizens. And his supporters appear to not be pleased. This is Senator Cruz’s only online appearance via Twitter today. Talk about tone deaf–and read the responses. Almost all of them are asking, “Where are you?”

More...http://iroots.org/2015/05/20/ted-cruz-awol-on-nsa-and-rand-paul-filibuster/

[coinableS]

Rand is giving it hos all. I watched a bit and they were discussing encryption. I donated some btc his way however I am doubtful his race will be successful.  We will end up with bush iii or mrs Clinton I'm afraid.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand is giving it hos all. I watched a bit and they were discussing encryption. I donated some btc his way however I am doubtful his race will be successful.  We will end up with bush iii or mrs Clinton I'm afraid.

Bro, if we stay as a team and check the media when they go astray, keep him funded and help out on the ground, we'll be in good shape. Let it not be said that we did nothing and my hat is off to for helping the cause.

[Chef Ramsay]

Peter King: Paul Filibuster 'Putting Our National Security at Risk' Ya

Rep. Peter King slammed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul for speaking for hours Wednesday on the Senate floor against renewing the Patriot Act and the National Security Agency's metadata programs the law authorizes, charging to Newsmax that he is "doing a disservice to the country and he's putting our national security at risk.

"He's unnecessarily frightening the American people," the New York Republican, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in an exclusive interview. "He's making the NSA out to be the enemy.

"In fact, the enemy is al-Qaida, ISIS and Islamist terrorism and the NSA is the key weapon that the United States has in the war against al-Qaida," he added. "The NSA does not listen to anyone's phone calls and does not read anyone's emails. There have been no abuses found against the NSA.

"This is just absolutely terrible. It's so misleading. It's fear mongering — and it's inexcusable," King said.

...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/peter-king-rand-paul-filibuster-patriot/2015/05/20/id/645872/

[Chef Ramsay]

Hillary deploys pollsters to discover her position on Rand Filibuster

Cancelling a day full of meetings with her new team of email (server) administrators, sources tell us that Hillary Clinton spent much of the day shopping for a new consulting company to poll her eventually to be released position on renewal of the ‘Patriot Act’ and Rand Paul’s filibuster. While Hillary has no plans to take questions from the media on this topic, the campaign has announced it will make a statement available to the media as soon as the will of the American people has been properly projected–withing a manageable margin of error.


More...http://iroots.org/2015/05/20/hillary-deploys-pollsters-to-discover-her-position-on-rand-filibuster/

[Chef Ramsay]

Glad to see Sen. Lee giving Rand a spell so he can continue on into the night. Good times and give some bitcoin to Rand at https:/www.randpaul.com

[Chef Ramsay]

I just Twittered Sen. Cruz over this like 15 mins ago and now he just appeared to help Rand! Thx Ted! And, no I'm not responsible it's just that he's been AWOL all day but now is as good a time as ever to show up.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand just wrapped it up on his filibuster. He made his points and gathered support for his amendments to the Patriot Act and we'll see if that is good enough. No need to wreck the Senate voting schedule and create more enemies but I think he did so well on this and hope you all enjoyed and did what you could to help the cause. www.randpaul.com is where you can go to help out financially like I did and a few others I helped rally to the cause. A dozen US Senators on both sides, plus a number of House members, came to help Rand's buster for civil liberties in this epic tale ~ 10 and a half+ filibuster. Show your support by donating. Thx yall

[Chef Ramsay]

Snowden: Paul filibuster represents ‘sea change’

Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) 10-hour floor speech opposing the Patriot Act represents a “sea change” in Congress, government leaker Edward Snowden said Thursday.

Slightly more than 12 hours after Paul — a presidential candidate in 2016 — finished his marathon lambasting of the post-9/11 security law, Snowden took to Reddit to take questions about Congress’s debate over the National Security Agency (NSA).

“Whatever you think about Rand Paul or his politics, it's important to remember that when he took the floor to say 'No' to any length of reauthorization of the Patriot Act, he was speaking for the majority of Americans — more than 60% of whom want to see this kind of mass surveillance reformed or ended,” Snowden wrote, citing a recent poll released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

...

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/242826-snowden-paul-filibuster-represents-sea-change

[Chef Ramsay]

Some coverage on Lawrence O'Donnell's show (MSNBC) last night. Not too bad, I expected worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVw-V0Ax_0010 min segment

[Chef Ramsay]

Hannity (Fox) last night. Karl Rove (neocon architect/big time Bush guy) won't shut up about how great the Patriot Act is. Then Rep. Raul Labrador (who was one of the handful of House members there in support of Rand) comes on for 2 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1xxU9IV87k
10 mins in total

[Chef Ramsay]

EXCLUSIVE — RAND PAUL DECLARES VICTORY IN FIRST POST-FILIBUSTER INTERVIEW, FIRES AWAY AT JEB BUSH

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is already back at work after he filibustered on the U.S. Senate floor for about 10 and a half hours on Wednesday. He’s declaring his marathon a smashing success in the quest to get the National Security Agency (NSA) to stop bulk collection of Americans’ records.

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Thursday morning—his first since leaving the Senate floor late Wednesday evening, just before midnight—Paul said his position on the NSA is gaining more and more steam both inside the beltway in Washington and across America.

“I think the main thing is trying to draw attention to a really, really important issue which is that the government shouldn’t be collecting in bulk our phone records. Warrants should name an individual but really the NSA spying on Americans should end,” Paul said.

I think that position, particularly outside Washington—as I’ve traveled the country—is particularly popular. But Washington is starting to come around and I think I’ve seen a little bit of a break in the ice in this. Last night there were people from both sides, Republican and Democrat, coming to the floor in support of this. I think we have had a good success and our hope is still that leadership will decide to allow amendments that end the bulk collection and we plan on continuing the fight and having an amendment that will end bulk collection of records.

...

Paul added in his Breitbart News exclusive interview that he believes the widespread bipartisan support for his filibuster on Wednesday—several Democrats and several Republicans joined him on the floor—is a sign that the politicians in Washington are beginning to hear Americans out on their opposition to NSA spying.

...
Paul also fired away at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who on Thursday seemingly attacked Paul’s filibuster by saying in New Hampshire that there’s “not a shred of evidence” that NSA’s spying on Americans violated their civil liberties.

“Some of the people are sort of mired in the past—and I think there were comments that Jeb Bush made this morning in New Hampshire, saying that he supports the bulk collection of data,” Paul said of his naysayers in the Republican establishment, specifically singling out Bush.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/21/exclusive-rand-paul-declares-victory-in-first-post-filibuster-interview-fires-away-at-jeb-bush/

[Chef Ramsay]

Former governor Jeb Bush (R., Fla.) dismissed Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster against the mass collection of phone records authorized by the Patriot Act, saying today that the National Security Agency program is constitutional.

“I think he’s wrong in saying that this is unconstitutional or saying that people’s freedoms have been violated by the Patriot Act,” Bush said in New Hampshire. “I think we need to reauthorize the Patriot Act, and put aside who’s speaking where.

The simple fact is that it’s been an effective tool to keep us free and to keep us from being attacked by Islamic terrorists.” Paul described the legislation allowing the programs as “the most unpatriotic of acts” during a ten-hour speech against the reauthorization of the bill yesterday.

htxp://www.nationalreview.com/article/418737/jeb-bush-rand-paul-wrong-about-patriot-act-joel-gehrke

This guy is a carbon copy of his brother and that's what you'd get if he were elected. Him and all of these other apologists for the surveillance state like to falsely say that this spying program has kept us safe from these terrorists but two separate investigations (one by the president's own picked group) that says point blank that this spying hasn't done jack shit to stop anything. And how could it, when you're looking for everything you can't focus on what you need to be and that is what Rand would be doing as president. Just goes to show that these elitist, establishment insider bastards don't give a flying crap about the peoples' safety (nor liberty for that matter) just about control and protecting the state at all costs. And since this link is a neocon fishwrapper of a site, I'm not linking it.