Join Rand Paul in fighting the NSA

Barack Obama, Eric Holder, and their allies in both parties believe they can disregard the Constitution and seize your phone records without even seeking a warrant or informing you! 

Now, Senator Rand Paul has introduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act (S. 1121) to explicitly forbid the federal government from looking at your phone records without a warrant or probable cause to believe you are engaged in criminal or terrorist activity. 

Passing this legislation will be one of the most crucial battles of the year. 

So please sign your Stand with Rand Petition and make your most generous contribution to help C4L recruit even more Americans to stand up to Barack Obama's surveillance state.

In Liberty,

John Tate
President

Source: C4L

Rand Paul - Big Brother Really Is Watching Us

Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
By Senator Rand Paul

Photo by the Associated Press

When Americans expressed outrage last week over the seizure and surveillance of Verizon's client data by the National Security Agency, President Obama responded: "In the abstract, you can complain about Big Brother . . . but when you actually look at the details, I think we've struck the right balance."

How many records did the NSA seize from Verizon? Hundreds of millions. We are now learning about more potential mass data collections by the government from other communications and online companies. These are the "details," and few Americans consider this approach "balanced," though many rightly consider it Orwellian.

These activities violate the Fourth Amendment, which says warrants must be specific—"particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." And what is the government doing with these records? The president assures us that the government is simply monitoring the origin and length of phone calls, not eavesdropping on their contents. Is this administration seriously asking us to trust the same government that admittedly targets political dissidents through the Internal Revenue Service and journalists through the Justice Department?

No one objects to balancing security against liberty. No one objects to seeking warrants for targeted monitoring based on probable cause. We've always done this. 

What is objectionable is a system in which government has unlimited and privileged access to the details of our private affairs, and citizens are simply supposed to trust that there won't be any abuse of power. This is an absurd expectation. Americans should trust the National Security Agency as much as they do the IRS and Justice Department.

Monitoring the records of as many as a billion phone calls, as some news reports have suggested, is no modest invasion of privacy. It is an extraordinary invasion of privacy. We fought a revolution over issues like generalized warrants, where soldiers would go from house to house, searching anything they liked. Our lives are now so digitized that the government going from computer to computer or phone to phone is the modern equivalent of the same type of tyranny that our Founders rebelled against.

I also believe that trolling through millions of phone records hampers the legitimate protection of our security. The government sifts through mountains of data yet still didn't notice, or did not notice enough, that one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was traveling to Chechnya. Perhaps instead of treating every American as a potential terror suspect the government should concentrate on more targeted analysis.

To protect against the invasion of Americans' privacy, I have introduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act. I introduced similar Fourth Amendment protections in December and again just last month. Both measures would have prevented the data-mining we're now seeing, but both bills were rejected by the Senate. We will see if this time my colleagues will vote to support the Constitution that they all took an oath to uphold.

I am also looking into a class-action lawsuit to overturn the decisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that allowed for this to happen. I will take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. My office has already heard much enthusiasm for this action.

The administration has responded to the public uproar by simply claiming that it is allowed to have unlimited access to all Americans' private information. This response is a clear indication that the president views our Constitutional "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects" as null and void. 

If this is the new normal in America, then Big Brother certainly is watching and it's not hyperbolic or extreme to say so. Nor is it unreasonable to fear which parts of the Constitution this government will next consider negotiable or negligible.

Mr. Paul, a Republican, is a senator from Kentucky.

 

A version of this article appeared June 11, 2013, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Synergy and Cohesion in the Liberty Movement

By Zach Foster

A heavily edited version was originally published in April by Young Americans for Liberty

Syn-er-gy. n. 1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. 2. Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.

This is a very delicate subject, but please approach it with an open mind, and know that in no way do I wish to threaten YAL’s non-partisan, non-profit status in the writing of this communique to my fellow liberty activists.

First of all I must congratulate all the YAL chapters who have actively established and maintained a presence on their campuses and nearby towns.  The many protests and creative demonstrations against violations of privacy and dignity by the TSA have made the papers in many cities.  YAL members have shown that they have what it takes to raise awareness to the issues.

However, I am concerned with a perceived lack of unity among different factions within the greater liberty movement.  For example, in California there have been many complaints of YAL chapter members being hesitant or opposed to partner in activism with members of Youth for Ron Paul.  Among Youth for Ron Paul, there is widespread opposition to working with grass roots activists.  Furthermore, though this gap is being bridged, there are still liberty factions within the Republican Party who will not work with Libertarian Party members to enact change, and vice versa.

I fully understand that overtly doing so would threaten tax-exempt and legal statuses of these various organizations.  However, let us not forget that we are individuals, and as individuals we have a freedom of association.  This author happens to be a member of various organizations, from YAL and YFP to the state defense force.  However, being a member of one organization does not mean that identity is tattooed on my forehead.  I still have the right to associate freely as a private citizen, as do all of you.  If you wish to not compromise the status of your organization, then simply don’t wear the uniform, or the name tag, or the badges, etc.  Wear your Ron Paul t-shirt or Gary Johnson t-shirt, or even a Murray Rothbard shirt or hat.

I urge all liberty activists to reach out to neighboring liberty organizations [you all surf on Facebook, you know who they are!].  Organize with them.  Educate voters on the issues.  Team up with them to get people registered to vote.  Combine your numbers so that you can go door-to-door and cover a greater areas.  Follow the example of groups like the LA Liberty HQ, who are constantly distributing literature, knocking on doors, canvassing parades and farmers’ markets, and making phone calls on behalf of multiple liberty candidates from multiple parties.

Just like having more laborers in the market creates more goods and more wealth, having more liberty activists working together creates more projects and more people reached and voters won.  Multiplying your output means multiplying the chances of our victory.

For those of you who are already working with neighboring organizations, setting aside minor differences for the sake of spreading the message of liberty, I commend you.  Keep up the good work!  We have a lot more ahead of us, but we have the privilege of being the forces on the ground leading the charge of this revolution.

---

Image by markn3tel (via Flickr) and published via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. The owner does not necessarily endorse this author or his work.

Ron Paul to Hold Election Night Celebration in Virginia

Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, to join event
 
LAKE JACKSON, Texas– The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign today announced details of the candidate’s visit to northern Virginia on Tuesday. Paul will be speaking at this ‘Final Push Celebration’ along with his son, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
 
The celebratory event with supporters will be held at The Waterford in Springfield, Virginia.
 
Details of the event are as follows. Time is Eastern.
 
Tuesday, February 28th

6:30 p.m.
 The Waterford
 6715 Commerce Street
 Springfield, Virginia 22150
 
*Doors open to the public at 6:00 p.m.

The Most Conservative GOP Senate Members Agree with Ron Paul on Indefinite Detention

Explains Townhall’s Mike Shedlock:

Any Senator voting on a bill that would allow US citizens to be arrested, detained indefinitely, even sent to Cuba without being formally charged with any crime is no friend or supporter to the US constitution…

Indeed, all 86 Senators who voted for that bill are cowards, hypocrites, and no friend to the United States or the US Constitution.

13 Courageous Votes

Nay ID Crapo, Michael [R]

 Nay ID Risch, James [R]

 Nay IL Durbin, Richard [D]

 Nay IA Harkin, Thomas [D]

 Nay KY Paul, Rand [R]

 Nay MD Cardin, Benjamin [D]

 Nay MN Franken, Al [D]

 Nay OK Coburn, Thomas [R]

 Nay OR Merkley, Jeff [D]

 Nay OR Wyden, Ron [D]

 Nay SC DeMint, Jim [R]

 Nay UT Lee, Mike [R]

 Nay VT Sanders, Bernard [I]

There you have it. Anyone not on that list voted to trash the constitution. I am particularly pleased by the votes of Senators Jim DeMint, Thomas Coburn, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Michael Crapo, and James Risch.

Those are the only six Republicans willing to stand behind the Constitution.

Source: The Paultical Ticker with Jack Hunter

Ron and Rand Paul Hit the Trail

The bicycle trail that is. Circa mid-1960′s.

 

“When I was drafted, I was married and had two kids, and I went.” – Ron Paul (in response to other candidates who never served)

Source: Paulitical Ticker with Jack Hunter

Ron Paul to Attend Iowa GOP Reagan Dinner

Campaign makes Iowa a top priority

 

ANKENY, Iowa -The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign today announced that Congressman Paul will attend the Iowa state Republican Party’s Reagan Dinner.

 

After finishing second in the recent Iowa Straw Poll in Ames by less than one percent, Paul has continued to make Iowa a top priority for his 2012 Presidential campaign.

 

“Iowa has always been an important state in establishing momentum and shaping the national debate,” said Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Manager John Tate. “Dr. Paul’s recent performance in the Iowa Straw Poll and his continued growth in polls show that Iowa and the nation are looking to his leadership and experience for real solutions to the problems facing this country.”

 

In 2010, Paul gave a keynote address the evening before Iowa’s State Republican Party Convention. Congressman Paul’s son, United States Senator Rand Paul, was the featured speaker at the Iowa GOP’s “Night of the Rising Stars” earlier this year.

 

Details of the event are as follows.  Time is Central.

 

Friday, November 4, 2011

 

7:00 p.m.

Iowa GOP Reagan Dinner

Iowa Events Center

730 3rd Street

Des Moines, IA 30509

Ron Paul to Attend Iowa GOP Reagan Dinner

Campaign makes Iowa a top priority for primary

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign today announced that Congressman Paul will attend the Iowa state Republican Party’s Reagan Dinner.

After finishing second in the recent Iowa Straw Poll in Ames by less than one percent, Paul has continued to make Iowa a top priority for his 2012 Presidential campaign.

“Iowa has always been an important state in establishing momentum and shaping the national debate,” said Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Manager John Tate. “Dr. Paul’s recent performance in the Iowa Straw Poll and his continued growth in polls show that Iowa and the nation are looking to his leadership and experience for real solutions to the problems facing this country.”

In 2010, Paul gave a keynote address the evening before Iowa’s State Republican Party Convention. Congressman Paul’s son, United States Senator Rand Paul, was the featured speaker at the Iowa GOP’s “Night of the Rising Stars” earlier this year.

Details of the event are as follows.  Please note time zone.

Friday, November 4, 2011

7:00 PM Central Time

Iowa GOP Reagan Dinner

Iowa Events Center

730 3rd Street

Des Moines, IA 30509