Friday, June 23, 2006

ACLU Says Government Spying on Bank Records is Further Abuse of Power

We could see this one coming from a mile away! It is a program designed to protect National Security, so naturally the ACLU are against it.
The following statement can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU:

“The revelation of the CIA’s financial spying program is another example of the Bush administration’s abuse of power. The invasion of our personal financial information, without notification or judicial review, is contrary to the fundamental American value of privacy and must be stopped now. It seems the administration feels entitled to flip through all of our checkbooks. How many other secret spying programs has the Bush administration enacted without Congress, the courts or the public knowing? We need a full accounting of what information has been demanded by the U.S. government, how they have used it, with whom it was shared, and how they intend to repair this grave breech of trust. This program is a glaring example of how this government thinks nothing of widespread abuse of power.


Don Surber is excited about this newly invented right by the ACLU.

So take that, IRS! I don’t have to tell you nothing. Ditto Social Security. The ACLU said so. I have this right to privacy over all my financial transactions. I no longer have to report my income to the IRS or Social Security. That will save me lots of money.

Thank you, ACLU. Your pathological hatred for George W. Bush may not destroy the nation’s security, but it sure as heck can cost it a couple of trillion dollars in taxes each year. Keep minting those rights.


There is probably no other time that a proper balance between civil liberties and national security becomes more important than in wartime. During times of war, sometimes unusual responses are implemented, often requiring suspension of certain liberties. Of course war opens the opportunity for abuse by governments, and the ACLU are right to watch for them. However, the ACLU in its absolutist perception of freedom, only worries about one side of the equation, civil liberties. It pays no attention to the national security side of things, not only ignoring it, but working against it.

Read much more at Stop The ACLU!