And, You Thought You live in a Free Country…
January 27, 2011
Renea McMasters, Commentator
Six inches of snow last night and a late start this morning was not about to curb my enthusiasm to make a difference on Capitol Hill this morning. I attended a briefing and asked the well-seasoned professionals on The Hill about my mission.
My mission? It involves a mixture of proposals to cut spending and and justifications for allowing the Patriot Act to sunset (at least some provisions in the Patriot Act) http://bordc.org/
Well, you see… the 112th congress is under an enormous amount of pressure to cut spending. As a tax payer and constituent to one congressman and two senators on the Hill I have lots to say about spending. My house is being foreclosed on by Bank of America even after I made payments and Congress bailed them out. Because of Federal Spending I am in debt over $45,000 with over $11,000 of that in interest. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
As a resident of Missouri, I was a “target” of the MIAC Report http://bit.ly/djVcfc. My anger over political profiling inspired me to research fusion centers http://bit.ly/q19Bd. So, as if the profiling wasn’t enough to get my blood boiling, what infuriated me was the realization that billions of tax dollars is being spent on all of this.
So you see, I am already in tax-payer debt and am funding my own enslavement. Armed with this knowledge, I went to inform Billy Long and key committee members how “Fed Up” we are about outrageous spending and infringements of our liberties and privacy.
But, before I could even get into the building my 4th Amendment right was violated by the search of my person and belongings. To add insult to injury, the security guards wouldn’t let me in with the folders! So, my 1st Amendment right was violated. AND… I couldn’t get downstairs to the credit union to cash a check, so my right to do business was infringed.
I went back to where everyone met-up and a nice lady who had worked for the NAACP loaned me her NAACP bag. I went back and got right in!
I met with Billy Long’s staffer, Scott Shiller, and discussed important issues like the MIAC report and fusion centers and how the USAPATRIOT Act has been used in ways that it was never intended for. Not only is it a violation of our right to privacy, but it’s a waste of money as it doesn’t help prevent terrorism in the least bit.
My conversation with Mr. Shiller was a serious and honest discussion about my concerns. I left with the impression that my concerns would be a topic of discussion the next time Mr. Shiller meets with Mr. Long (who had flown back to Missouri).
I spent the rest of the day dropping off information for committee members, letting them know just a few ways to cut Unconstitutional and wasteful spending. However, I know it’s not nearly enough, Congress needs to cut $1.5 trillion just to balance the budget. But what better place to start than with where the government is violating people’s rights. This didn’t start with the war on terror. The war on drugs was one of the first poor excuses the people in government used to take away our rights, but there’s only so much time in the day, so that’ll just have to be my next project.