SO WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE MS. SPEAKER? Still on the same privacy bandwagon?

Old and new are about to meet at a political nexus point, and I am left wondering what became of sanity? The Patriot Act and legislation being entertained on financial reform are about to collide. Not the laws themselves, but certainly the drama behind them.

First a look at what the Left had to say about the Patriot Act.

Five years ago, Nancy Pelosi posted some very real concerns she had about the Patriot Act, a George W. Bush policy hated by the Left, yet renewed intact by the Obama administration (and suddenly, those opposing political voices got very silent, and with political reason).

In 2005, in a rebuttal entitled Reauthorization of Patriot Act a Massive Invasion of Privacy, Ms. Pelosi wrote: “We must also preserve the balance between security and civil liberties and recognize that not all of the tools that law enforcement officers want are tools that they legitimately need” (bold mine).

Her concerns went on to include such language as, ““This is a massive invasion of the privacy of the American people, not just some idle threat,” and “We must always remember as we protect and defend the American people, we must honor the oath of office we take here when we are sworn in to protect and defend the Constitution and the civil liberties that it contains. We have an obligation to do better for the American people.”

Now a look at the financial reform legislation being introduced by the Left.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) comments on CNSNews.com: “The Democrats’ new bureaucracy poses a threat to our privacy.” It appears that financial reform will give the government the power to take a look at anyone’s finances:

“Individuals could be required to provide the new agency with written answers—under oath—to any question posed by the bureau regarding their personal financial information.”

Of course it’s all under the guise of needing to know what’s going on in the financial world for the sake of “peace and security,” but carefully consider . . . government agencies will now have total access to every receipt and every expense, every time you use an electronic form of payment: credit card, debit card, or check.

Cash is not a consideration at this point, as hard currency is difficult to tie to an individual’s transaction activity. But then . . . isn’t that a good political reason to do away with cash altogether?
So Ms. Pelosi, how are you going to protect the American citizenry from this new assault on privacy? It’s a slippery, Orwellian slope you and your peers are placing this nation on.

Stop it. Stop it now.