USA Freedom Act is a nice start but it doesn't go far enough without the Poe-Lofgren Amendment

From Demand Progress:

Yesterday, legislation was introduced in Congress that purports to rein in the NSA’s mass surveillance programs. It’s called the USA FREEDOM Act (as was a similar bill last year), and we don’t think that it goes far enough.

USA FREEDOM might do something very modest to constrain the NSA's behavior under the particular authorities that that agency has exploited to collect information about all of Americans’ phone calls.

But it also does some definitively terrible things, like giving companies immunity for facilitating government spying — and extending the very authority the NSA has manipulated to engage in mass surveillance.

Here's the thing: time is already running out — a committee vote on USA FREEDOM is expected TOMORROW. Can you make a call to your member of Congress and ask them to oppose USA FREEDOM because it doesn't go far enough — and to support key amendments to make it better?

Moreover, USA FREEDOM doesn’t address the fundamental problem: That the NSA is a rogue agency that operates under a cloak of darkness without meaningful oversight or checks on its power, and will lie and violate the law with impunity.

Even if the NSA’s ability to spy on us is constrained slightly, for now, we can expect it to do all in its power to warp the law — and torture the English language — to find justifications for ever more-expansive surveillance.

And because oversight is so limited, because Congressional leadership and the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are so captured by the surveillance agencies and contractors, we won’t even find out about the NSA’s new schemes until another whistleblower surfaces in 10 or 20 years.

To learn more about why we are opposing this bill, you can read our press release about USA FREEDOM here.

If you agree with our take on the USA FREEDOM Act, can you make a call to your member of Congress right now?

Yes, I'll make a call to my member of Congress.

No, I don't have time to make a call — but I'll click here and chip in $10 to help Demand Progress in this fight.

Thanks for standing strong.

—David, Daniel, Mark, Sara and the rest of the Demand Progress team

Tell the Obama administration to practice transparency when it comes to TPP by posting it online for the general public

From Credo:

Our campaign to pressure President Obama's administration to immediately make all secret trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) just got a massive boost.

President Obama is lashing out at activists and our elected representatives who have called for transparency around secret negotiations, calling us “dishonest.”

In response Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown added their voices to Senator Bernie Sanders’ call for the Obama administration to immediately release the full text of the TPP. In a letter to the president, Senators Warren and Brown wrote:

The American people should be allowed to weigh in on the facts of the TPP before Members of Congress are asked to voluntarily reduce our ability to amend, shape, or block any trade deal. The press and the public should be allowed to examine the details that corporate executives and lobbyists have already been allowed to influence for years. Members of Congress should be able to discuss the agreement with our constituents and to participate in a robust public debate instead of being muzzled by classification rules. Before Congress votes to facilitate the adoption of the TPP, the American public should be allowed to see for themselves whether it's good deal for them.1

Stand with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders: Add your name and tell President Obama to immediately release the full text of the TPP before Congress votes on Fast Track. Click here to sign the petition.

Senators Warren and Brown sent the letter in response to the president's recent attacks on progressive activists fighting to stop Congress from rubber-stamping a Fast Track bill for the biggest trade deal in our history. President Obama has even gone so far as to compare our objections to the deal being negotiated with corporations and foreign governments to Sarah Palin’s invocating of “death panels” during the health care debate.

The Warren-Brown letter specifically points out that President Obama's "trade transparency record is worse than that of former President George W. Bush," noting that even Bush "published the full negotiation texts of a major free trade deal with Latin America several months before Congress had to vote on giving the deal fast track benefits."2

This letter gives our ongoing campaign to rally around Senator Bernie Sanders’ call for transparency on all pending trade deals a huge lift. We need to do our part by pushing even harder for transparency now.

Add your name and tell President Obama to immediately release the full text of the TPP before Congress votes on Fast Track. Click here to sign the petition.

It would be outrageous for the Obama administration to allow the Republican leadership and their corporate allies within the Democratic party to ram through Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority without allowing all members of Congress, their staff, and the American public to read what is in trade agreements such as the TPP. And as Senators Warren and Brown point out, it would be worse than George W. Bush!

In fact, the reason why the corporate lobby is pushing hard for Fast Track is that they know the TPP could not get through Congress without this extraordinary power grab.

This secret "trade" deal would eviscerate broad swaths of regulations that protect consumers, workers, the environment and the soundness of our financial system. And it would set up a legal regime where corporate profits trump the policy priorities of sovereign governments.

It’s ironic that the president claims critics of the TPP "don’t know what they’re talking about" when it’s his administration that is refusing to release the text of his secret trade agreement to the public – only providing extremely limited access to members of Congress. The Obama administration should immediately release the TPP text to the public, and Congress, so we can have a spirited and informed public debate on the largest trade deal in our history.

Stand with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, and Bernie Sanders: Add your name and tell President Obama to immediately release the full text of the TPP before Congress votes on Fast Track. Click the link below to sign the petition.

To sign petition

Thank you for your activism.

Murshed Zaheed, Deputy Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Support Trey Gowdy in holding Hillary accountable

From Stop Hillary PAC:

Trey Gowdy is coming under fire for forcing Hillary Clinton to testify...and now he's in danger.

We don't have a moment to lose.

As you know, Trey Gowdy has summoned Hillary Clinton to appear before the Select Committee on Benghazi for a fully transcribed, under oath interview, AND Hillary has refused!

And now, the full weight of the Clinton machine is out to crush Rep. Gowdy.

Let me explain: in an attempt to hide the truth, Hillary's offered a "limited," public appearance before the Select Committee where she can "appease" the media and avoid answering deep, hard-hitting questions in the name of "protecting national security" and claiming that she's already answered for her use of a personal email server.

But the truth is, Hillary will do ANYTHING to avoid tough questioning and face accountability for her actions.

South Carolina Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy has done an expert job leading the Congressional Select Committee on Benghazi, but as he faces his largest attack yet from Hillary Clinton, her campaign apparatus, and the left wing elite media -- he needs your immediate support.

That's why I'm leading the charge to support Trey Gowdy.

Friend, the truth can only be found through a transcribed interview to secure the public interest and ensure the committee has the unvarnished truth. And Hillary knows that could spell the end of her political career.

Gowdy's affirmed -- in light of her wiping clean the email server -- that Hillary MUST appear separately to discuss EACH of these events -- Benghazi AND her "illegal" email practices.

Remember those that dared to uncover the truth about the Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton affair and Clinton's lies under oath about it? The Clintons and their friends in the media methodically destroyed the careers and reputations of those that dared to lead the impeachment proceedings, including Congressmen Bob Livingston, Bob Barr, Henry Hyde, Newt Gingrich, Helen Chenoweth, and Dan Burton.

Bottom line?

If Americans want Congressman Gowdy to uncover the truth about Benghazi and Hillary's role in it, Gowdy will need our support.

We need to let him know he has the support of Americans across the country and that we will have his back when faced with the mud slinging onslaught that is sure to come his way.

If Congressman Gowdy can finally uncover the truth, then, perhaps we can stop Hillary once and for all...because, she MUST BE STOPPED.

And in order to achieve that goal, WE NEED YOU ON OUR TEAM TODAY.

For America!

Senator Ted Harvey

P.S. Trey Gowdy is our best hope to finally get the answers Americans deserve, but he needs our help now more than ever. Chip in just $5 (or more if you can afford it) so we'll have the funds to support Gowdy and protect him from the Clinton media machine as he digs to clear the federal stonewall!

To find out how you can help go Stop Hillary PAC

Congressman Gowdy is the fight of his career. He is standing up to the Clintons and holding them accountable. Unfortunately the team of Billary Clinton don't like that so they aim their venom at Trey Gowdy today just like they did to Newt Gingrich,Bob Barr and Bob Linvingston in 1994. The Congressman needs your support. You can give him a call in his Washington DC office at (202)225-6030 and let him know the American people have his back and want him to continue holding Hillary accountable. If you live in Gowdy's district then vote for him if not try to support him. Gowdy is one of the last leaders in Congress who has any balls by holding Hillary accountable. If he is replaced by a democrat Hillary sympathizer then Hillary will skate-possibly into the White House. No one wants that so support Trey today.

We won Comcast backs off from the merger

From Fight For The Future:

Big news: Comcast officially called it quits on merging with Time Warner! The mega-deal that would have given them control over more than half the country’s Internet users is dead.1

It was supposed to be the largest cable merger ever, combining the two largest, most hated cable companies into a single, massive political and economic monopoly. And now, thanks to hundreds of thousands of people like you taking action, that deal is not going to happen. This happened because of our power and ability to work together.

This win means we should be smart and take steps right now to protect the free and open Internet. We know Comcast is putting more energy into attacking net neutrality in Congress and in the courts, trying to get their way by throwing huge amounts of money anywhere they can.

That’s why we created Comcast Customer Help — a site where you can see which members of Congress are doing Comcast’s bidding and make them stop. Click here to check out the worst offenders.

2015 has been an amazing year for Internet users because we’ve made it a terrible year for Comcast's schemes to control the Internet. Together, we won net neutrality and put an end to their schemes to be a gatekeeper to what we see and do on the Internet. Today, we stopped them from merging with Time Warner and creating a single, hyper-powerful cable monopoly.

We beat a monopoly twice in one year. That never happens. We're in this interesting moment where because we've been smart, coordinated, and powerful, we're creating a domino of wins in our issue area. Everything little thing you do now can have an exponential effect for good.

That's why we can’t stop here. Comcast is trying to use special rules in Congress to overturn the new net neutrality rules — and given the millions of dollars they spend every year lobbying Congress, we can’t let up for a second.

Help us hold Comcast’s biggest Congressional allies accountable. Check out Comcast Customer Help now.

For the Internet,
Fight for the Future

P.S. This huge win is proof that the campaigns we’re running work -- and a reminder that when we come together as Internet users we wield an incredible amount of influence.

1.Source

Tell these 8 Senators to oppose Section 215 of the Patriot Act if it remains in its unconstitutional form

From FreedomWorks:

End the NSA's Lawless Spying
468 calls reported

The NSA’s unconstitutional, warrantless spying needs to end!

Obama is using a short-term provision in the Patriot Act to spy on all of your electronic records. Obama’s snoops are exploiting Section 215 to make sure they can collect all of your phone, email, and electronic data without a warrant!

There will soon be a vote to reauthorize Section 215 of the Patriot Act. When the Patriot Act is reauthorized, the temporary section (Section 215) must be reformed to protect your 4th Amendment constitutional rights. The government must get a specific warrant before searching your personal phone data.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to give Obama exactly what he wants: a clean reauthorization of Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

8 Republican senators can stand up to him and protect our privacy. Our right to privacy shouldn’t be violated by the NSA.

Call these 8 Republicans today. Urge them to stand against any reauthorization of Section 215 of the Patriot Act that doesn’t end bulk collection of phone data!

Talking points:

- Mitch McConnell wants to pass a clean reauthorization of Section 215 of the Patriot Act – and give President Obama everything he wants.

- Right now, Obama's NSA is unconstitutionally collecting the phone data of innocent Americans without specific warrants.

- If Section 215 of the Patriot Act is going to be reauthorized, then it needs to be reformed so that a specific warrant is required to collect the phone data of innocent Americans.

- Stand up for the 4th Amendment and stop any reauthorization of Section 215 that doesn’t end bulk collection of data without a warrant.

These are the U.S.Senators to contact:

Senator John Boozman
Office Phone: (202) 224-4843
Email

Senator Mike Enzi
Office Phone: (202) 224-3424
Email

Senator Joni Ernst
Office Phone: (202) 224-3254
Email

Senator Deb Fischer
Office Phone: (202) 224-6551
Email

Senator Pat Roberts
Office Phone: (202) 224-4774
Email

Senator Mike Rounds
Office Phone: (202) 224-5842
Email

Senator Dan Sullivan
Office Phone: (202) 224-3004
Email

Senator Thom Tillis
Office Phone: (202) 224-6342
Email

Support the Community Broadband Act

From CREDO Action:

Huge news: Comcast just announced that it is giving up on its proposed $45.2 billion merger with Time Warner Cable.1

This is a tremendous victory that shows that when we stand up for what is right and fight back against the big corporations and the rightwing, we can win.

CREDO activists have been fighting this merger since February 2014, just a few days after it was proposed. In total, more than 280,000 CREDO activists signed petitions or submitted public comments against the merger to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the California Public Utilities Commission.

With public opinion supporting them, antitrust lawyers at the DOJ were preparing to intervene to advise against the merger. And then six senators – Al Franken, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden – wrote the FCC and DOJ strongly urging them to block the merger.

When liberals stand up and fight, we can win. CREDO activists were a huge part of this victory. Here’s what we did to help make this crucial victory possible:

February 2014: Just days after the merger was proposed, Representative Chellie Pingree launched a petition on CREDO Mobilize urging Attorney General Eric Holder to block the merger because it was “not in the best interests of American consumers and threatens the free and open nature of the Internet.” More than 160,000 CREDO activists signed Rep. Pingree’s petition.2

August 2014: More than 106,000 CREDO activists submitted public comments to the FCC telling it to reject the merger because it would “lead to decreased competition and higher Internet and cable costs for tens of millions of Americans.”3

February 2015: More than 17,000 CREDO activists in California signed our petition telling the California Public Utilities Commission to stop the merger from moving forward because it would “create a massive media conglomerate unlike anything we’ve seen before.”4
Just this week, responding to reports that staff attorneys at the DOJ were leaning toward recommending that the antitrust division intervene to stop the merger, another 24,000 CREDO activists signed our petition urging the DOJ to do just that.5

While this is a huge victory, it is important to recognize that it was a defensive one. Grassroots pressure from CREDO activists and others stopped this mega-merger from moving forward, but the cable and broadband Internet industries remain under the control of just a handful of corporations. And Comcast – or one of its rivals like Charter Communications – could soon make moves to further consolidate the industry. All of us need to remain vigilant and work to stop future mergers, as well as look for opportunities to support independent, local and publicly owned media, cable and Internet companies.

Beyond celebrating this victory, one key thing you can do right now is fight for the ability of cities and municipalities to offer broadband Internet access to their residents. There are 19 state laws currently on the books that make it illegal for them to do so.

Senators Cory Booker and Claire McCaskill have introduced the Community Broadband Act, which would preempt these state laws and allow municipalities to compete directly with big cable companies by offering their own broadband service. If you haven’t done so already, please sign our petition in support of of the Community Broadband Act.

Sign the petition: Allow cities to offer fast and affordable Internet access. Click here to sign the petition now.

Thanks for everything you do.

Josh Nelson, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Sources:1,2,3,4,5

Comcast is on the ropes now is time to deliver the knockout punch

From Demand Progress:

Comcast is already America's most-hated corporation — but now it wants to take over Time Warner Cable and expand its empire to include the wires that reach into 60% of Americans' homes.

The Federal Communications Commission heard us and supported our demands for Net Neutrality, but the massive cable monopoly that Comcast wants to build will have the market and political power to circumvent or strip away critical consumer protections.

Will you submit a comment to the FCC and tell them to block Comcast?

But all of a sudden things aren't looking great for Comcast. For the second time in just a few months, activists and consumers have one of the country's most powerful corporations on the ropes. You can help us throw the knockout punch.

Reports over the last week or so make it clear that we have allies inside of two regulatory bodies that would need to approve the merger: The attorneys who oversee the proposal for the Department of Justice look poised to urge that it be blocked. And the FCC is forcing the proposal through a particularly rigorous process.

It's not a done deal yet, but Comcast is flailing — let's finish them off. Just click here.

The shame of Wisconsin

Prosecutor John Chisholm
Judge Barbara Kluka
From the May 4, 2015, issue of NR ‘THEY CAME WITH A BATTERING RAM.” Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking. She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram.

She wasn’t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at her to grab some clothes, others yelled for her to open the door. “I was so afraid,” she says. “I did not know what to do.” She grabbed some clothes, opened the door, and dressed right in front of the police. The dogs were still frantic. “I begged and begged, ‘Please don’t shoot my dogs, please don’t shoot my dogs, just don’t shoot my dogs.’ I couldn’t get them to stop barking, and I couldn’t get them outside quick enough. I saw a gun and barking dogs. I was scared and knew this was a bad mix.”

She got the dogs safely out of the house, just as multiple armed agents rushed inside. Some even barged into the bathroom, where her partner was in the shower. The officer or agent in charge demanded that Cindy sit on the couch, but she wanted to get up and get a cup of coffee. “I told him this was my house and I could do what I wanted.” Wrong thing to say. “This made the agent in charge furious. He towered over me with his finger in my face and yelled like a drill sergeant that I either do it his way or he would handcuff me.”

They wouldn’t let her speak to a lawyer. She looked outside and saw a person who appeared to be a reporter. Someone had tipped him off. The neighbors started to come outside, curious at the commotion, and all the while the police searched her house, making a mess, and — according to Cindy — leaving her “dead mother’s belongings strewn across the basement floor in a most disrespectful way.” Then they left, carrying with them only a cellphone and a laptop.

“IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH.” That was the first thought of “Anne” (not her real name). Someone was pounding at her front door. It was early in the morning — very early — and it was the kind of heavy pounding that meant someone was either fleeing from — or bringing — trouble. “It was so hard. I’d never heard anything like it. I thought someone was dying outside.” She ran to the door, opened it, and then chaos. “People came pouring in. For a second I thought it was a home invasion. It was terrifying. They were yelling and running, into every room in the house. One of the men was in my face, yelling at me over and over and over.”

It was indeed a home invasion, but the people who were pouring in were Wisconsin law-enforcement officers. Armed, uniformed police swarmed into the house. Plainclothes investigators cornered her and her newly awakened family. Soon, state officials were seizing the family’s personal property, including each person’s computer and smartphone, filled with the most intimate family information. Why were the police at Anne’s home? She had no answers. The police were treating them the way they’d seen police treat drug dealers on television. In fact, TV or movies were their only points of reference, because they weren’t criminals. They were law-abiding. They didn’t buy or sell drugs. They weren’t violent. They weren’t a danger to anyone. Yet there were cops — surrounding their house on the outside, swarming the house on the inside. They even taunted the family as if they were mere “perps.” As if the home invasion, the appropriation of private property, and the verbal abuse weren’t enough, next came ominous warnings.

Don’t call your lawyer.

Don’t tell anyone about this raid.

Not even your mother, your father, or your closest friends. The entire neighborhood could see the police around their house, but they had to remain silent. This was not the “right to remain silent” as uttered by every cop on every legal drama on television — the right against self-incrimination. They couldn’t mount a public defense if they wanted — or even offer an explanation to family and friends. Yet no one in this family was a “perp.” Instead, like Cindy, they were American citizens guilty of nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights to support Act 10 and other conservative causes in Wisconsin. Sitting there shocked and terrified, this citizen — who is still too intimidated to speak on the record — kept thinking, “Is this America?”


“THEY FOLLOWED ME TO MY KIDS’ ROOMS.” For the family of “Rachel” (not her real name), the ordeal began before dawn — with the same loud, insistent knocking. Still in her pajamas, Rachel answered the door and saw uniformed police, poised to enter her home. When Rachel asked to wake her children herself, the officer insisted on walking into their rooms. The kids woke to an armed officer, standing near their beds. The entire family was herded into one room, and there they watched as the police carried off their personal possessions, including items that had nothing to do with the subject of the search warrant — even her daughter’s computer. And, yes, there were the warnings. Don’t call your lawyer. Don’t talk to anyone about this. Don’t tell your friends. The kids watched — alarmed — as the school bus drove by, with the students inside watching the spectacle of uniformed police surrounding the house, carrying out the family’s belongings. Yet they were told they couldn’t tell anyone at school. They, too, had to remain silent.

The mom watched as her entire life was laid open before the police. Her professional files, her personal files, everything. She knew this was all politics. She knew a rogue prosecutor was targeting her for her political beliefs. And she realized, “Every aspect of my life is in their hands. And they hate me.” Fortunately for her family, the police didn’t taunt her or her children. Some of them seemed embarrassed by what they were doing. At the end of the ordeal, one officer looked at the family, still confined to one room, and said, “Some days, I hate my job.”

For dozens of conservatives, the years since Scott Walker’s first election as governor of Wisconsin transformed the state — known for pro-football championships, good cheese, and a population with a reputation for being unfailingly polite — into a place where conservatives have faced early-morning raids, multi-year secretive criminal investigations, slanderous and selective leaks to sympathetic media, and intrusive electronic snooping. Yes, Wisconsin, the cradle of the progressive movement and home of the “Wisconsin idea” — the marriage of state governments and state universities to govern through technocratic reform — was giving birth to a new progressive idea, the use of law enforcement as a political instrument, as a weapon to attempt to undo election results, shame opponents, and ruin lives.

Most Americans have never heard of these raids, or of the lengthy criminal investigations of Wisconsin conservatives. For good reason. Bound by comprehensive secrecy orders, conservatives were left to suffer in silence as leaks ruined their reputations, as neighbors, looking through windows and dismayed at the massive police presence, the lights shining down on targets’ homes, wondered, no doubt, What on earth did that family do? This was the on-the-ground reality of the so-called John Doe investigations, expansive and secret criminal proceedings that directly targeted Wisconsin residents because of their relationship to Scott Walker, their support for Act 10, and their advocacy of conservative reform. Largely hidden from the public eye, this traumatic process, however, is now heading toward a legal climax, with two key rulings expected in the late spring or early summer. The first ruling, from the Wisconsin supreme court, could halt the investigations for good, in part by declaring that the “misconduct” being investigated isn’t misconduct at all but the simple exercise of First Amendment rights.

The second ruling, from the United States Supreme Court, could grant review on a federal lawsuit brought by Wisconsin political activist Eric O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the first conservatives to challenge the investigations head-on. If the Court grants review, it could not only halt the investigations but also begin the process of holding accountable those public officials who have so abused their powers. But no matter the outcome of these court hearings, the damage has been done. In the words of Mr. O’Keefe, “The process is the punishment.” It all began innocently enough. In 2009, officials from the office of the Milwaukee County executive contacted the office of the Milwaukee district attorney, headed by John Chisholm, to investigate the disappearance of $11,242.24 from the Milwaukee chapter of the Order of the Purple Heart. The matter was routine, with witnesses willing and able to testify against the principal suspect, a man named Kevin Kavanaugh.

What followed, however, was anything but routine. Chisholm failed to act promptly on the report, and when he did act, he refused to conduct a conventional criminal investigation but instead petitioned, in May 2010, to open a “John Doe” investigation, a proceeding under Wisconsin law that permits Wisconsin officials to conduct extensive investigations while keeping the target’s identity secret (hence the designation “John Doe”). John Doe investigations alter typical criminal procedure in two important ways: First, they remove grand juries from the investigative process, replacing the ordinary citizens of a grand jury with a supervising judge. Second, they can include strict secrecy requirements not just on the prosecution but also on the targets of the investigation. In practice, this means that, while the prosecution cannot make public comments about the investigation, it can take public actions indicating criminal suspicion (such as raiding businesses and homes in full view of the community) while preventing the targets of the raids from defending against or even discussing the prosecution’s claims.

Why would Chisholm seek such broad powers to investigate a year-old embezzlement claim with a known suspect? Because the Milwaukee County executive, Scott Walker, had by that time become the leading Republican candidate for governor. District Attorney Chisholm was a Democrat, a very partisan Democrat. Almost immediately after opening the John Doe investigation, Chisholm used his expansive powers to embarrass Walker, raiding his county-executive offices within a week. As Mr. O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth explained in court filings, the investigation then dramatically expanded

Over the next few months, [Chisholm’s] investigation of all-things-Walker expanded to include everything from alleged campaign-finance violations to sexual misconduct to alleged public contracting bid-rigging to alleged misuse of county time and property. Between May 5, 2010, and May 3, 2012, the Milwaukee Defendants filed at least eighteen petitions to formally “[e]nlarge” the scope of the John Doe investigation, and each was granted. . . . That amounts to a new formal inquiry every five and a half weeks, on average, for two years.

This expansion coincided with one of the more remarkable state-level political controversies in modern American history – the protest (and passage) of Act 10, followed by the attempted recall of a number of Wisconsin legislators and, ultimately, Governor Walker. Political observers will no doubt remember the events in Madison — the state capitol overrun by chanting protesters, Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to prevent votes on the legislation, and tens of millions of dollars of outside money flowing into the state as Wisconsin became, fundamentally, a proxy fight pitting the union-led Left against the Tea Party–led economic Right. At the same time that the public protests were raging, so were private — but important — protests in the Chisholm home and workplace. As a former prosecutor told journalist Stuart Taylor, Chisholm’s wife was a teachers’-union shop steward who was distraught over Act 10’s union reforms. He said Chisholm “felt it was his personal duty” to stop them. Meanwhile, according to this whistleblower, the district attorney’s offices were festooned with the “blue fist” poster of the labor-union movement, indicating that Chisholm’s employees were very much invested in the political fight. In the end, the John Doe proceeding failed in its ultimate aims. It secured convictions for embezzlement (related to the original 2009 complaint), a conviction for sexual misconduct, and a few convictions for minor campaign violations, but Governor Walker was untouched, his reforms were implemented, and he survived his recall election.

But with another election looming — this time Walker’s campaign for reelection — Chisholm wasn’t finished. He launched yet another John Doe investigation, “supervised” by Judge Barbara Kluka. Kluka proved to be capable of superhuman efficiency — approving “every petition, subpoena, and search warrant in the case” in a total of one day’s work.

If the first series of John Doe investigations was “everything Walker,” the second series was “everything conservative,” as Chisholm had launched an investigation of not only Walker (again) but the Wisconsin Club for Growth and dozens of other conservative organizations, this time fishing for evidence of allegedly illegal “coordination” between conservative groups and the Walker campaign. In the second John Doe, Chisholm had no real evidence of wrongdoing. Yes, conservative groups were active in issue advocacy, but issue advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and did not violate relevant campaign laws. Nonetheless, Chisholm persuaded prosecutors in four other counties to launch their own John Does, with Judge Kluka overseeing all of them. Empowered by a rubber-stamp judge, partisan investigators ran amok. They subpoenaed and obtained (without the conservative targets’ knowledge) massive amounts of electronic data, including virtually all the targets’ personal e-mails and other electronic messages from outside e-mail vendors and communications companies.

The investigations exploded into the open with a coordinated series of raids on October 3, 2013. These were home invasions, including those described above. Chisholm’s office refused to comment on the raid tactics (or any other aspect of the John Doe investigations), but witness accounts regarding the two John Doe investigations are remarkably similar: early-morning intrusions, police rushing through the house, and stern commands to remain silent and tell no one about what had occurred. At the same time, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and other conservative organizations received broad subpoenas requiring them to turn over virtually all business records, including “donor information, correspondence with their associates, and all financial information.” The subpoenas also contained dire warnings about disclosure of their existence, threatening contempt of court if the targets spoke publicly. For select conservative families across five counties, this was the terrifying moment — the moment they felt at the mercy of a truly malevolent state. Speaking both on and off the record, targets reflected on how many layers of Wisconsin government failed their fundamental constitutional duties — the prosecutors who launched the rogue investigations, the judge who gave the abuse judicial sanction, investigators who chose to taunt and intimidate during the raids, and those police who ultimately approved and executed aggressive search tactics on law-abiding, peaceful citizens. For some of the families, the trauma of the raids, combined with the stress and anxiety of lengthy criminal investigations, has led to serious emotional repercussions. “Devastating” is how Anne describes the impact on her family. “Life-changing,” she says. “All in terrible ways.” O’Keefe, who has been in contact with multiple targeted families, says, “Every family I know of that endured a home raid has been shaken to its core, and the fate of marriages and families still hangs in the balance in some cases.” Anne also describes a new fear of the police: “I used to support the police, to believe they were here to protect us. Now, when I see an officer, I’ll cross the street. I’m afraid of them. I know what they’re capable of.” Cindy says, “I lock my doors and I close my shades. I don’t answer the door unless I am expecting someone. My heart races when I see a police car sitting in front of my house or following me in the car. The raid was so public. I’ve been harassed. My house has been vandalized. [She did not identify suspects.] I no longer feel safe, and I don’t think I ever will.” Rachel talks about the effect on her children. “I tried to create a home where the kids always feel safe. Now they know they’re not. They know men with guns can come in their house, and there’s nothing we can do.” Every knock on the door brings anxiety. Every call to the house is screened. In the back of her mind is a single, unsettling thought: These people will never stop. Victims of trauma — and every person I spoke with described the armed raids as traumatic — often need to talk, to share their experiences and seek solace in the company of a loving family and supportive friends. The investigators denied them that privilege, and it compounded their pain and fear. The investigation not only damaged families, it also shut down their free speech. In many cases, the investigations halted conservative groups in their tracks. O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth described the effect in court filings:

O’Keefe’s associates began cancelling meetings with him and declining to take his calls, reasonably fearful that merely associating with him could make them targets of the investigation. O’Keefe was forced to abandon fundraising for the Club because he could no longer guarantee to donors that their identities would remain confidential, could not (due to the Secrecy Order) explain to potential donors the nature of the investigation, could not assuage donors’ fears that they might become targets themselves, and could not assure donors that their money would go to fund advocacy rather than legal expenses. The Club was also paralyzed. Its officials could not associate with its key supporters, and its funds were depleted. It could not engage in issue advocacy for fear of criminal sanction.

These raids and subpoenas were often based not on traditional notions of probable cause but on mere suspicion, untethered to the law or evidence, and potentially violating the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” The very existence of First Amendment–protected expression was deemed to be evidence of illegality. The prosecution simply assumed that the conservatives were incapable of operating within the bounds of the law.

Even worse, many of the investigators’ legal theories, even if proven by the evidence, would not have supported criminal prosecutions. In other words, they were investigating “crimes” that weren’t crimes at all. If the prosecutors had applied the same legal standards to the Democrats in their own offices, they would have been forced to turn the raids on themselves. If the prosecutors and investigators had been raided, how many of their computers and smartphones would have contained incriminating information indicating use of government resources for partisan purposes? With the investigations now bursting out into the open, some conservatives began to fight back. O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth moved to quash the John Doe subpoenas aimed at them.

In a surprise move, Judge Kluka, who had presided over the Doe investigations for more than a year, recused herself from the case. (A political journal, the Wisconsin Reporter, attempted to speak to Judge Kluka about her recusal, but she refused to offer comment.) The new judge in the case, Gregory Peterson, promptly sided with O’Keefe and blocked multiple subpoenas, holding (in a sealed opinion obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which has done invaluable work covering the John Doe investigations) that they “do not show probable cause that the moving parties committed any violations of the campaign finance laws.” The judge noted that “the State is not claiming that any of the independent organizations expressly advocated” Walker’s election. O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth followed up Judge Peterson’s ruling by filing a federal lawsuit against Chisholm and a number of additional defendants, alleging multiple constitutional violations, including a claim that the investigation constituted unlawful retaliation against the plaintiffs for the exercise of their First Amendment rights. United States District Court judge Rudolph Randa promptly granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, declaring that “the Defendants must cease all activities related to the investigation, return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation.” From that point forward, the case proceeded on parallel state and federal tracks. At the federal level, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Randa’s order. Declining to consider the case on the merits, the appeals court found the lawsuit barred by the federal Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits federal courts from issuing injunctions against some state-court proceedings.

O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth have petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari and expect a ruling in a matter of weeks. At the same time, the John Doe prosecutors took their case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to attempt to restart the Doe proceedings. The case was ultimately consolidated before the state supreme court, with a ruling also expected in a matter of weeks.

And so, almost five years after their secret beginning, the John Doe proceedings are nearly dead — on “life support,” according to one Wisconsin pundit — but incalculable damage has been done, to families, to activist organizations, to the First Amendment, and to the rule of law itself. In international law, the Western world has become familiar with a concept called “lawfare,” a process whereby rogue regimes or organizations abuse legal doctrines and processes to accomplish through sheer harassment and attrition what can’t be accomplished through legitimate diplomatic means. The Palestinian Authority and its defenders have become adept at lawfare, putting Israel under increasing pressure before the U.N. and other international bodies. The John Doe investigations are a form of domestic lawfare, and our constitutional system is ill equipped to handle it. Federal courts rarely intervene in state judicial proceedings, state officials rarely lose their array of official immunities for the consequences of their misconduct, and violations of First Amendment freedoms rarely result in meaningful monetary damages for the victims.

As Scott Walker runs for president, the national media will finally join the Wall Street Journal in covering John Doe. Given the mainstream media’s typical bias and bad faith, they are likely to bring a fresh round of pain to the targets of the investigation; the cloud of suspicion will descend once again; even potential favorable court rulings by either the state supreme court or the U.S. Supreme Court will be blamed on “conservative justices” taking care of their own. Conservatives have looked at Wisconsin as a success story, where Walker took everything the Left threw at him and emerged victorious in three general elections. He broke the power of the teachers’ unions and absorbed millions upon millions of dollars of negative ads. The Left kept chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” and in Wisconsin, democracy looked like Scott Walker winning again and again. Yet in a deeper way, Wisconsin is anything but a success. There were casualties left on the battlefield — innocent citizens victimized by a lawless government mob, public officials who brought the full power of their office down onto the innocent. Governors come and go. Statutes are passed and repealed.

Laws and elections are important, to be sure, but the rule of law is more important still. And in Wisconsin, the rule of law hangs in the balance — along with the liberty of citizens. As I finished an interview with one victim still living in fear, still shattered by the experience of nearly losing everything simply because she supported the wrong candidate at the wrong time, I asked whether she had any final thoughts. “Just one,” she replied. “I’m hoping for accountability, that someone will be held responsible so that they’ll never do this again.” She paused for a moment and then, with voice trembling, said: “No one should ever endure what my family endured.”

Source

It's often asked "Can it happen here? Can what happened in Nazi Germany and/or Soviet Russia happen here? Yes it can. This is also verifiable proof that it can happen here. We must be on guard to prevent it or prosecute those that cross that line. It's time to clean house in Wisconsin. We can start with a certain DA and his wife,along with most of the police officers in that jurisdiction.

Every bad internet bill in one:TPP has it all...and none of it good

From Fight For The Future:

We need to be as big and visible as possible to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership — that’s the only way we can win this fight. We all need to get as many people in our audiences, readerships, and communities motivated to do something. We can make this powerfully epic, but only if you help. Companies need to be the frontrunners, leaders, and heroes on this because we’ve seen time and time again with SOPA, Reset The Net, and net neutrality that it’s the key ingredient to raising the bar and making sure everyone goes big.

Time is short — Congress is introducing a bill to Fast Track the TPP in the coming weeks, so we need to act now.

We realize it’s a big ask, but this is the kind of bad legislation that only comes along once every 10 or 20 years. The TPP has pieces of every bad Internet policy we’ve fought against, and if it passes now we’ll be kicking ourselves for decades, fighting uphill battle after uphill battle on copyright reform, whistleblower protections, and so much more. Doing the most we can right now is the only rational step to protecting the open Internet.

Join with us

This goes down tomorrow so sign up today. This is your internet protect it.

So how bad is TPP? This bad:

The biggest problem with the Trans-Pacific Partnership is that there’s absolutely no public oversight. The only way we know what’s in the TPP right now is from leaks of specific chapters -- and if Fast Track passes, not only won’t we get more details about the TPP, Congress will have to give a single thumbs up or down to the entire thing.

That means we won’t be able to push for specific items to be removed from the deal -- we’ll be stuck with the whole thing, so as of right now the Trans-Pacific Partnership will do all of the following:

Force sites to remove allegedly infringing content from the web without a court order - scarily similar to SOPA.

Create harsh criminal penalties for journalists and whistleblowers. Any disclosure of information with "commercial value" would be criminalized -- and there would be absolutely no public interest of free speech exemption.

Punish Internet users who share copyrighted material, even without any personal gain. Here's the proposed punishment from the leaked text: "sentences of imprisonment as well as monetary fines sufficiently high to provide a deterrent to future acts of infringement." Again, that's potential prison time for sharing something without any personal gain.

Limit Fair Use to make copyright even more restrictive on creative innovation. Last week, WikiLeaks revealed a series of emails surrounding the TPP where the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) explicitly argued against including any fair use provisions. And it looks pretty clear that if the TPP passes, they'll have their way. That means remixes, sampling, and quoting of copyrighted material could become illegal outside the US.

Allow foreign corporations to sue the United States government if they think that our laws infringe on their profits. This is, quite simply, the most devastating part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It opens the door to undermining every good law we've ever passed to protect the Internet -- the only thing corporations have to do is prove they could make more money if those laws didn't exist.

In short, the TPP isn’t just bad — it’s zombie bad. It has parts of every misguided Internet policy we’ve killed over the last decade trying to become law by completely bypassing every part of our democratic process.

To oppose TPP click here

Children of gay couples discuss thier experiences

From Public Advocate:

The "tolerant" Homosexual Lobby is at it again.

You see, Heather Barwick was raised by two lesbians as a child.

And Barwick is under scrutiny for recently publishing a pro-Family article in response to an update in the radical Homosexual's children doctrine, "Heather has Two Mommies."

Now a married adult raising her own child in a traditional family, she describes the heartache she endured growing up with two lesbians.

"I grew up surrounded by women who said they didn't need or want a man. Yet, as a little girl, I so desperately wanted a daddy," Barwick proclaimed.

She went on, "I ached every day for a dad... another mom could never have replaced the father I lost."

Within minutes, radical homosexual activists and the liberal news media took to the Internet and air waves to disavow Barwick's childhood.

These are common tactics of radical pro-homosexual bullies who attempt to silence anyone who stands up to their anti-Family agenda.

One website even claimed Barwick "spit on her gay parents" for using her experience to defend pro-Family values.

Her childhood experience and the backlash she is facing are not unique.

Just three months ago, four brave children of different gay "parents" cited chilling details of their childhoods as they defended Real Marriage at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

They talked about experiencing sexual confusion and needing to fill the void of a father or a mother in their lives.

If they even questioned the radical anti-Family lifestyle they were forced to live, the children were intimidated into silence by their parents and homosexual activists.

One of the young boys even practiced homosexual prostitution to fill that absence.

After testifying, the radical Homosexual Lobby attacked him and filed complaints with his employer!

As he presented stories about other children with similar traumatic experiences growing up, he noted they wished to remain anonymous because they too "will face a gauntlet if they break the silence."

You see, facts and reality don't matter to the radical Homosexual Lobby.

They will stop at nothing to force their anti-Family agenda on innocent children and parents.

Their intimidating tactics seek to silence and scare other children and adults from sharing similar experiences.

And they are using any means necessary to criminalize Christian opposition to their agenda.

But I will not be threatened and bullied into silence.

With your gracious help, Public Advocate will be the voice protecting innocent children from dangerous indoctrination by agents of the radical Homosexual Lobby.

For the Family,

HON. EUGENE DELGAUDIO
President, Public Advocate of the U.S.

P.S. The radical Homosexual Lobby is bullying children raised by homosexual couples for speaking out about the struggles they faced.

Will you help Public Advocate defend innocent children from homosexual bullies by chipping in $10 or $25 to expose the harm of their anti-Family policies?

This why I do this? For the children. It is not because of religious reasons although I can see that homosexuality,including lesbianism,is a biological deadend. I'm fighting for these kids because no one else does. Everyone wants to be politically correct or they are intimidated by the rainbow mafia to say anything. The next generation should not go through hell just because gay people want to play house.

Sign the petition to oppose the TPP

From Open Media:

Right now, Congress is moving forward on legislation that would allow the government to Fast Track the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it’s extreme Internet censorship plan without any scrutiny of what’s in the agreement.
Why? Because if Americans knew that the TPP would make their Internet more expensive, censored, and policed, they’d hate it.
This is why we need to take a stand for full transparency. Tell President Obama: Make the full text of the secretive TPP public today.
From day one, the TPP negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy. The public has been kept in the dark about its contents. And what little we know comes from leaked texts.1
And here’s what those leaked documents told us: the TPP has the power to make our Internet access more expensive, to implement rules that would censor links and websites, to stifle the public domain and threaten online freedoms across the board.2

Sign the petition to oppose TPP

Rand Paul on Loretta Lynch and more

From RandPaul 2016:

The Washington machine has bullied Americans for too long.

And nothing is more symbolic of an out-of-control Federal Government trampling our liberties than President Obama's nomination of Loretta Lynch to succeed Eric Holder as Attorney General.

You see, she defended President Obama's illegal Executive Amnesty as "reasonable."

I believe the Attorney General should defend the separation of powers, not make excuses for a President end-running Congress through executive temper tantrum.

Loretta Lynch even described the NSA's warrantless spying program as "necessary and constitutional."

She also refused to commit ruling out the Federal Government's authority to order a drone strike against American citizens on U.S. soil.

And during her time as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, she seized over $100 million from citizens through so-called "civil asset forfeiture."

President Obama thundered that the delay in voting on confirming Loretta Lynch is "embarrassing."

What I find embarrassing is the disrespect for the Constitution Loretta Lynch shows when she tries to justify President Obama's policies.

The Attorney General's loyalty should be to the Constitution, not to any President or the Washington machine.

I believe if our party sticks to our guns on defending the Bill of Rights, the Washington machine's days of attacking our liberties are coming to an end.

Recent polls that show me leading Hillary Clinton in key swing states prove that my message positions me as the Republican best-positioned to defeat her.

But one prominent member of our Party who is "seriously considering" entering this race believes Republicans should roll over and confirm Loretta Lynch because "the President deserves his team."

Haven't we had enough of the go-along-to-get-along madness in D.C.?

I'm in this race because I believe America deserves better than the same old candidates running on the same old policies that lead to the same old disastrous results.

I want to end the NSA's illegal domestic spying.

I believe the President is not a king and can't impose amnesty through executive fiat.

And I believe the government can't seize your property before you are convicted of a crime.

I'm prepared to take this message to all corners of America.

But this will be a long race that needs to be won one handshake, one voter, and one rally at a time.

So please chip in a contribution so my campaign has all the resources necessary to reach the voters in the key early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

Thanks to your support, my campaign has hit the ground running and my first travels to the early states saw enthusiastic crowds ready to join the movement to defeat the Washington machine and take our country back.

I hope I can count on you to join them.

Tell Congress to honor Net Neutrality

From Fight For The Future:

BREAKING: Congress is moving to kill net neutrality using a special measure known as the Congressional Review Act. We have to stop it.

Just weeks ago, we won at the FCC. But since then, it’s just been open season on net neutrality. Two anti-net neutrality bills, five lawsuits1, and now this.

If we can't change Congress’s direction on net neutrality, we’ll lose it forever. But to do that, we need to build a grassroots army stronger than anything Comcast has seen before.

Will you chip in $20 to get Congress to back off, for good?

Yes, I'll chip in $20 to help save Net Neutrality.

If Comcast wins back the power to slow some sites and speed up others, they can hold the Internet hostage and make billions. So they’re fighting hard.

And unlike a normal bill, a CRA can pass fast with a simple majority vote: no filibuster, no hearings.2 Sure, it can be vetoed, but that is a false sense of security.

The truth is, we have no idea who will be President in two years. We have to take a stand now, in Congress.

Make no mistake: these politicians are on thin ice and they know it. They’ve received millions of dollars from companies everyone hates, to break the websites people love. But the truth won’t save us if nobody hears it. We need to sound the alarm.

Will you chip in $20, so that we can take a stand *now*?

Yes, I'll chip in $20 to save Net Neutrality.

The best part is, if we can scare Congress off these bills right now, this victory will stick. The longer the Internet flourishes under these rules, the harder they’ll be to undo. There *is* a light at the end of the tunnel.

Let’s get this done.

Thanks,

–Fight for the Future

P.S. A few people asked for more info about how we were going to use the money, so I wanted to give a bit more detail. It ends up being pretty simple. We need a campaigner who’s eating, sleeping and breathing net neutrality actions aimed at Congress, so that they’re constantly taking heat for this until they back off. Beyond that, we need to give that campaigner some design and developer time to support their best campaign ideas. Bringing together top notch activists with designers and developers in a space where everyone can work together to rain headaches down upon the corrupt– that’s what makes campaigns like battleforthenet.com possible. It’s how we win.

Our work isn't magic -- but we know it’s incredibly effective. We’re a small group of people with the right mix of talents who are waking up every morning with one mission, and one job: to protect the Internet’s power as a force for good in the world, to keep it from being turned against us.

Your donations are what let us do that. For us, the best donations are the ones that recur monthly because it’s support we can count on. Can you donate monthly?

Oh for sure, I’ll donate $20 each month to make sure we don’t lose net neutrality.

Thanks!

Sources:here and here

Demand that Congress observe Net Neutrality

From Demand Progress:

Breaking news: A bill to fast-track the repeal of the FCC's strong Net Neutrality rules was just introduced in Congress—and there might be enough votes to pass it.

The bill uses a special process that allows Congress to overturn a regulation with a simple majority vote, and a vote could come at any time.1

This is one of the biggest threats to net neutrality we've seen yet—but we're fighting back.

Last week, nearly 1,000 people joined in our Net Neutrality Day of Action, dropping by their local representatives' office to tell them to defend Net Neutrality. Will you chip in $5 to keep up the pressure?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to defend Net Neutrality.

Since the FCC announced its strong new rules to protect Net Neutrality, we've seen a whole wave of attacks, including five—count 'em, FIVE—lawsuits to block the rules in court.

Now Congress is pulling out all the stops, and defending Net Neutrality is going to require the same kind of grassroots outcry it took to get the FCC to adopt it in the first place.

Without Net Neutrality, cable companies like Comcast will be able to charge big corporations extra fees for fast service and stick the rest of us in an Internet slow lane.

Will you chip in $5 to mobilize the grassroots support we need to stop this terrible bill in its tracks?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to defend Net Neutrality.

Thanks.

--Demand Progress

Source

Loretta Lynch nomination coming up for a vote real soon

From Campaign For Liberty:

Loretta Lynch's nomination was just added to the Senate schedule for this week.

And according to Capitol Hill insiders who've seen the "official" whip count - Loretta Lynch's confirmation vote is expected to be one of the "closest Senate confirmation votes in recent history."

Already, C4L has faxed in over 135,000 petitions to the Senate.

Your voice is getting through and the pressure is working.

But if there's ever been a time to double down - it's NOW!

So please sign your emergency "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax immediately if you haven't yet done so.

As we've called her, the "Queen" of civil asset theft, Loretta Lynch spent her time as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York seizing nearly a BILLION dollars worth of private property under the guise of civil asset theft in 2013 alone...

She's also an unapologetic enforcer of gun restrictions and a staunch defender of unconstitutional NSA spying.

If confirmed as U.S. Attorney General there's no doubt in my mind Lynch will work to massively expand these programs virtually allowing an unrestrained Executive authority to run rampant.

But a critical vote on Lynch is expected as soon as Thursday.

That's why your action today is so vital!

Can I count on you to IMMEDIATELY sign your emergency "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax?

Let me explain why Loretta Lynch as Attorney General would be so dangerous:

Referred to as "The General," the AG commands an army of 90,000 FBI agents, investigators, lawyers, pilots, clerks, even troops!

With over 4,000 federal criminal statutes to enforce, the Attorney General sets the tone for law enforcement throughout the country.

Now Loretta Lynch is just a few votes away from being appointed Attorney General - one of the most powerful positions in the country.

This is a dangerous time for opponents of civil asset theft, gun control, drone strikes, and unrestrained Executive authority . . .

That's why its critical you sign your emergency "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax right away.

Your emergency Action Fax is a crucial component in applying enough pressure on targeted legislators, urging them to oppose Loretta Lynch's nomination.

But this mobilization program in the coming days won't be cheap, or easy.

That's why after you sign your "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax, I ask you to consider chipping in with an immediate contribution of $10 or more.

Your immediate contribution will allow us to contact up to 600,000 folks and generate roughly 30,000 more petitions.

$10 will pay to contact up to 6,250 people. $20 reaches 12,500. And so on.

So please chip in whatever you can afford to help expand our program and defeat Loretta Lynch's nomination for Attorney General.

Please do not wait a critical vote could come tomorrow!

In Liberty,

John Tate
President

P.S. A CRITICAL vote on Loretta Lynch's nomination as Attorney General could happen in the Senate as soon as Thursday.

Please sign your emergency "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax to your U.S. Senators today!

Then, please consider immediately chipping in $10 to help Campaign for Liberty reach out to more Americans about defeating Loretta Lynch's nomination.

Protect your liberties tell Congress not reauthorize Section 215 of the Patriot Act

From Demand Progress:

Congress is back in Washington after a two-week recess, and reauthorization of the Patriot Act is on the agenda.

According to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the chamber could take up three key sections of the Patriot Act set to expire in June as early as this month1 — including Section 215, which the NSA has exploited to claim unprecedented power to conduct bulk collection of millions of phone calls every single day.

Legislators have yet to settle on their plans, and intelligence agencies are gearing up to make sure these provisions are reauthorized. That's why we need to get loud, and now.

Can you make a quick phone call to your representative and ask that they vote against reauthorizing Section 215 of the Patriot Act?

We can't blame you if you're feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu. While the most questionable provisions of the Patriot Act, like Section 215, were only initially authorized for a fixed number of years, Congress has reauthorized them every single time since passage of the Patriot Act in 2001.

Mass surveillance has violated the privacy of millions of innocent Americans who have never even been suspected or accused of a crime. And according to the White House's own Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, it hasn't made a difference in making us safer.2

Click here to call and tell your representative: continued NSA mass surveillance is a nonstarter. Say no to Section 215 today!

It's super easy — just enter your phone number and zip code, and we'll patch you through to your member of Congress. And if you have an extra moment, just press * instead of hanging up and we’ll connect you to important Judiciary Committee members, who oversee surveillance legislation.

This is a defining moment for our civil liberties, and these phone calls to Congress can really make a difference. Can you call your representative today?

Thanks for taking action.

—David, Daniel, Mark, Sara and the rest of the Demand Progress team

Source:

1. House eyes possible early plans to renew Patriot Act

2. Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

Watch a video and support Rand Paul

From Senator Rand Paul:

Hillary Clinton has announced she is running for President…

… And I'm the biggest threat to the coronation she has planned!

New polls show I'm leading her in key swing states like Colorado, Iowa, and Pennsylvania.

That makes me the Republican best positioned to defeat her.

But while she is making her announcement, I need your help to make a statement of my own.

I'm counting on you to chip in and help my campaign's emergency "Stand With Rand®: Defeat Hillary" Money Bomb reach our goal of $2 million by the deadline.

Your support will help my campaign run our new ad in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada to spread the message that Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for America and I am the Republican who can beat her.

You see, my rallying cry of defeating the Washington machine and taking our country back is catching fire across America.

I'm in this race to finally repeal ObamaCare, protect religious liberty, pass the largest tax cut in American history so more of your money stays in your pockets instead of fueling a bloated government, and impose term limits on career politicians.

My message of Liberty and a rock-solid conservative voting record makes me the best candidate to sell our values to all corners of America.

Defending ALL of the Bill of Rights has brought crowds to their feet from New Hampshire to Berkley, California.

But the stronger my campaign grows, the nastier the smears the media hurls my way.

They've told lies about my interviews, twisted my words, and resorted to every trick in the book to try and stop my momentum.

Hillary Clinton's pals in the left-wing press are trying to take me out!

Conservatives can't allow media smears to serve up a Big Government establishment candidate who will be chewed up by Hillary Clinton's BILLION DOLLAR attack machine.

So I am counting on your help to fight back.

Please chip in a contribution to my campaign's emergency "Stand With Rand®: Defeat Hillary" Money Bomb right away.

Reaching our $2 million goal by Monday will help my campaign fight back against the media's attacks by airing our new ad in the Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for America.

The polls prove I am the Republican best positioned to defeat her, so her allies in the liberal media are coming after me with both guns blazing.

I won't wilt under their attacks and I'll fight for our values, but I need your help to get my message to as many voters as possible.

So please chip in to my campaign's emergency "Stand With Rand®: Defeat Hillary" Money Bomb and make an announcement of your own…

You are joining the movement to take our country back!

In Liberty,

Rand Paul

It's official

The evil witch is running. Hillary Clinton has just announced her intention to run for President of the United States. We've been preparing for this for a long time. Allied with men's rights groups and conservative groups like Stop Hillary PAC we stand a good chance of defeating her in 2016. We've been preparing and now the enemy will come out fighting. I suggest we do the same only be better at it. The only media sources that will stand up to the Clintons are Fox,Rush with other conservative political talkshow hosts and yours truly. With the rest it is going to be a Clinton lovefest. With the rest of the media it is going to be how Hillary can walk on water and how the Republican challenger is actually the devil. So until November 2016 we are going to bombarded with these messages. Get used to it. But I'm going to fight them all the way:Hillary to Announce in Minutes,A breakdown of every Hillary scandal and HIllary's top aide under investigation. Join with me.

Support the candidate of the people

From Stand With Rand:

My campaign staff handed me a stack of new press reports a mile high...

One headline from a Fox News article perfectly sums up everything I'm facing right now:

"UGLY EARLY: PAUL'S ENTRY SETS OFF FIRST ROUND OF ATTACKS."

And that's because the media sees polls showing me as the candidate best positioned to beat Hillary Clinton.

I don't have time to mince words.

The first few days of any campaign are virtually always the most important.

So can I please count on your most generous gift right now to my campaign's Stand With Rand Money Bomb to help us reach our new goal of $1.5 million?

Even if you've already given, but can afford to chip in a little more, please do so.

If you haven't given, please be as generous as you can!

The truth is, taking on the Washington machine isn't going to be easy.

There are plenty of candidates in BOTH parties who want to keep taxing and spending like there's no tomorrow until every last shred of American wealth is wiped out.

They'll do anything to defend the Big Government status quo.

I'm afraid they view you and me as their number-one threat.

You see I'm running on a strong constitutional conservative platform, pushing bold reforms our country desperately needs, including:

>>> Passing term-limits to end career politicians' iron grip on our government;

>>> Forcing Congress to actually read the bills they vote on — and delay legislation one day for every 20 pages of language before passage to help eliminate cronyism and insider funny business;

>>> Overhauling our tax code and cutting spending to get government out of the way, unleash prosperity and tackle our $18.1 TRILLION debt;

>>> Auditing the Fed and ending the "print-now, ask-questions-later" policies that cause destructive boom-bust economic cycles;

>>> Stopping unconstitutional spying on American citizens that has resulted in our federal government collecting BILLIONS of innocent Americans' phone records, texts, emails and Internet searches every day.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

I believe saving our country is worth whatever attacks and smears they throw at me.

I'm a fighter.

Those who have forced our nation to the brink are going to find that out first hand when the time comes.

But I need you in my corner...

Not next week, not next month, but NOW.

The first few days of any campaign are always so critical. Some even say a $1 contribution now is worth $3 later on!

Please give as generously as you can right away!

I'm counting on you to please join with hundreds of thousands of patriots just like you from all over the country to "Stand With Rand!"

In Liberty,

Rand Paul

Thank you,Senator Rand Paul for throwing your hat into the ring. I have looked forward to the day you would enter the race. Someone has to undo the damage done to our country by the Obama Regime. Now with Obama's illegitimate mother,Hitlery Clingon,on the brink on making an official announcement now would be a good time to show Hitlery whom she is up against.That is a Statesman of the People and champion defender of the United States Constitution and the Bill Of Rights. The son of a visionary whom is a visionary himself. A man of all the people not just some of the people. A Republican who reached out to non-caucasian communities and told them the American dream and all the rights that come with it are theirs as well. Join with Rand Paul to restore liberty and make our country strong again.

Oppose forced unionism

From The National Right To Work Committee:

Please complete your 2015 Membership Ballot immediately.

It’s vital that you do so at once.

You see, every year your National Right to Work Committee surveys its members to make sure our programs line up with your priorities.

This year, with Obama appointees at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) emboldened to use any bureaucratic weapon in their arsenal to shut down your National Right to Work Committee, your participation is more important than ever.

When I last wrote to you warning of the threat posed by the Obama FEC and IRS, the response from Committee members was an overwhelming: "Fight On!"

As I explained, the FEC and IRS union boss water-carriers could bury your Right to Work Committee under a mountain of harassing subpoenas over our efforts to inform opponents of forced-unionism which Senators and Congressmen support Right to Work . . .

. . . And which ones don’t.

In the past, Big Labor’s cronies at the FEC have concocted rules which refuse to recognize that you are a "real" member of the National Right to Work Committee.

They have repeatedly insisted that you aren’t entitled to the same rights under the U.S. Constitution accorded to members of other organizations.

From what my attorneys tell me, the Committee’s position will be strongest if as many members as possible certify each year that they currently consider themselves to be members of the National Right to Work Committee.

As you know, the FEC bureaucracy attacked the Committee for exposing corruption involving candidates for federal office and top-level union officials.

That’s why your 2015 Membership Ballot -- demonstrating that we do have members -- may be essential in fighting off any retaliatory legal challenges to our membership.

Can you please take a few minutes to complete your 2015 Membership Ballot?

Completing your Membership Ballot is also very important for another reason.

In the next few weeks, I face some big decisions and I need your advice.

As you well know, in recent years, you and I have fought many battles with forced-unionism advocates in state legislatures and in Congress.

Right to Work supporters in Indiana and Michigan overcame Big Labor’s forced-dues-fueled leviathan and passed Right to Work laws, restoring to workers in these states the right to earn a living without having to pay dues and fees to a union boss.

And in Wisconsin, Big Labor took a huge hit when the state become America's 25th Right to Work state.

Then just think about the national battles you and I have had with Big Labor in the last several years.

Time and again, Card Check Forced-Unionism -- Big Labor’s favorite tool to corral workers into dues-paying ranks -- has reared its ugly head in Congress and in bureaucratic rule-making.

And let’s not forget the efforts of Right to Work members to force roll-call votes in the U.S. House and Senate on our National Right to Work Act.

Through petitions and postcards, phone calls, e-mails and letters to their Congressmen and Senators, opponents of forced-unionism have fought Big Labor’s forced-dues power.

Then in recent election years, you and folks like you mobilized a Right to Work citizen army to turn up the heat on candidates before the elections, demanding they pledge total opposition to forced-unionism.

And just look at what happened last year . . .

. . . Eight new pro-Right to Work Senators replaced forced-dues advocates, some of whom represented Big Labor’s interests for decades.

Now it’s up to you and me to build on our successes and move forward with the plan to put every member of Congress on record for or against compulsory unionism.

Unfortunately, as I try to budget for 2015, your National Right to Work Committee accounts have been drained -- first from our efforts to secure roll-call votes on the National Right to Work Act and then from last year’s massive 2014 Issue Education and Mobilization Program.

So I need your advice on allocating the Committee’s funds.

Should I emphasize a campaign for federal legislation rolling back Big Labor’s forced-unionism power in Congress?

Or should protecting and advancing Right to Work in the states be top priority?

Or should your Committee try to fight both nationally and on the state level?

Let me explain my dilemma.

With Right to Work gains in both the U.S. House and Senate, now is the time to put every member of Congress on record on the forced-unionism issue by forcing a roll-call vote in both Houses of Congress on the National Right to Work Act.

As you know, a National Right to Work law would mean that no worker could be forced to join or pay dues to a labor union just to get or keep a job.

And just getting a roll-call vote would be a win/win scenario for opponents of compulsory unionism.

After all, every time in the past five decades that Big Labor’s pet politicians have been exposed to the nearly 80% of Americans who think forced union dues are just plain wrong, they have gone down in flames at the ballot box.

And 2016 could be an even worse year for forced-dues advocates than 2014.

That’s why I believe you and I must do everything we can to FORCE Congress to go on record for or against the National Right to Work Act.

But this fight won’t be easy -- or cheap.

So I’m counting on your support, and your advice.

You see, in addition to battles in Congress, Right to Work supporters face some tough challenges as well as tremendous opportunities on the state level.

In addition to protecting Right to Work laws in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Nevada, now is the time to use our momentum to extend Right to Work to other states like Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as in a host of other states where the political climate is ripe for freeing workers from the shackles of forced-unionism.

The fact is, after years of hard work, two states, Indiana and Michigan, became Right to Work states in 2012 -- something that hasn’t happened since 1954!

If two states deep in the heart of the union boss dominated Rust Belt can pass Right to Work, I’m confident other states can as well.

So, should I emphasize a federal campaign, concentrating on forcing a roll-call vote on the National Right to Work Act?

Or should going on offense to pass new state Right to Work laws be our top priority?

Or should the Committee try to fight both nationally and on the state level?

Now, I’m sure you agree that it’s vital you and I do everything we can to put all members of Congress on record for or against forced-unionism.

So, if you think our federal legislative program should take priority, mark "FEDERAL LEGISLATION" on your Membership Ballot.

But before you do, give some thought to what’s at stake in the state legislatures.

Shouldn’t you and I strike while the iron is hot in states where it may be possible to pass Right to Work laws?

But we can’t leave current Right to Work states undefended in order to gain new ones.

So should defending state Right to Work laws and working to end forced-unionism in promising states be a top priority?

If you think so, mark "STATE LEGISLATION" on your ballot.

I’m sure you can see why I’m torn . . .

. . . And why I’m writing to ask you for your advice -- and, I hope, for your increased financial support.

Unless I can generate a major influx of funds at the beginning of this year, I will be forced to cut back on both federal and state legislative programs.

The fact is, with the tremendous opportunities you and I have in the current political climate, abandoning the field now would be heartbreaking.

With 11 million American workers shouldering Big Labor’s yoke, you and I cannot give up the fight now.

So can I count on you to chip in with a contribution NOW equal to or even larger than $10?

Thanks to the Committee’s 2014 Issue Education and Mobilization Program, you and I are now closer than ever to forcing votes on -- and ultimately passing -- a National Right to Work Law to free workers nationwide from the shackles of compulsory unionism.

That’s why I hope I can count on you to reach deep and make a contribution large enough for us to keep fighting in Congress and the state legislatures.

And why I hope you’ll consider chipping in with a generous contribution of $10, $20, or at least $30.

But whatever you can afford, please send it right away so I’ll know how to budget for the coming year.

Your advice and support are critical, so please submit your 2015 Membership Ballot as soon as possible. The Board of Directors and I anxiously await your reply.

Sincerely,

Mark Mix
President

P.S. Your completed 2015 Membership Ballot may be essential in a court battle to protect the rights of members like you.

I need to hear from 100% of our membership. Please act today.

Along with your ballot, please chip in with a generous contribution of $10, $20, or at least $30. Without your support right now, you and I may miss a real opportunity to take the fight directly to Big Labor.

So, please sign your Membership Ballot with your contribution today.

Big Cable and ISP's sue FCC over Net Neutrality

From Demand Progress:

BREAKING NEWS: The telecommunications industry just sued the FCC to kill Net Neutrality.1

Just weeks ago, the FCC issued a historic decision preserving Net Neutrality. But two new lawsuits filed by the big cable and Internet Service Providers are trying to overturn the whole thing.

With the amount of money corporations like Verizon and AT&T can spend on lawyers, this is going to be a huge fight. And to win, we need to make sure the public is making our voices heard in support of the FCC.

Will you chip in $5 to help fight back against this lawsuit and save Net Neutrality?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to help save Net Neutrality.

They've given millions to politicians. They've spent millions more on lobbyists. And now they've hired an army of lawyers to accomplish what they haven't been able to do so far: kill Net Neutrality.

Why are they fighting this so hard? Because they want to give preferential treatment to big corporations and dump the rest of us into an Internet slow lane—all so they can jack up their already sky-high profits.

The scary thing is that they've had success blocking Net Neutrality in the courts before. Previous efforts by the FCC to protect Net Neutrality have been blocked by the cable industry's lawyers.

So it's not enough to let goverment lawyers fight this on their own. We need to make sure the public is speaking out too.

We've come too far to let Net Neutrality get killed by an army of corporate lawyers. Will you chip in $5 to help fight back?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to save Net Neutrality.

Thanks.

--Demand Progress

1.Source

Keep the heat on the Senate to vote against Loretta Lynch

From Campaign For Liberty:

This is a dangerous time for opponents of civil asset theft, gun control, drone strikes, and unrestrained Executive authority . . .

You see, next week your senators return from their two week "spring recess" and one of the top issues facing them is whether or not to confirm Loretta Lynch as Attorney General.

Lynch's nomination was widely expected to sail through the Senate weeks before the Senate's spring break, even though she is an unapologetic defender of gun control, unconstitutional NSA spying, and civil asset theft.

But then pro-liberty Americans, like you,made your voices heard!

After Campaign for Liberty flooded the Senate with nearly 100,000 petitions, the Senate leadership put off the vote on Lynch -- for now.

It's vital you and I keep the pressure on in order to block her nomination on the first cloture vote.

Otherwise, there is a real chance Senate leadership will buckle and vote on, and confirm, Loretta Lynch.

If you thought Eric Holder was bad as Attorney General, overseeing major DOJ scandals like Operation Fast and Furious, I'm afraid you and I haven't seen anything yet.

And unless they continue to hear from you, wavering Senators will assume you and I are no longer paying attention to the Lynch battle.

If that happens, it is only a matter of time before they think it is safe to cave to pressure from the administration and the media and vote to confirm Lynch.

That's why I'm counting on you to sign your "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax urging your U.S. Senators to vote against Loretta Lynch's nomination for Attorney General.

Let me remind you why it's critical you and I DEFEAT Loretta Lynch's nomination.

There is good reason why Loretta Lynch should be known as the Queen of civil asset theft.

As U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Loretta Lynch's office SEIZED nearly a BILLION dollars' worth of private property under the guise of civil asset theft just in 2013.

And now she's one confirmation vote away from being appointed Attorney General - one of the most powerful positions in the country.

With over 4,000 federal criminal statutes to enforce, the Attorney General sets the tone for law enforcement throughout the country.

Given the fact that during her Senate hearing Loretta Lynch boldly declared asset theft a "useful" and "wonderful tool," it seems clear she plans to massively expand it if confirmed as Attorney General. . .

. . . I can only imagine the damage she'll do to private property rights and individual liberty if handed control over 90,000 FBI Agents, investigators, lawyers, and troops!

I don't know about you, but I surely don't want to find out.

That's why it's critical you sign your "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax to your U.S. Senators IMMEDIATELY!

With her office seizing nearly a BILLION dollars in one year, there are numerous examples of law-abiding Americans having their property stolen and their God-given rights trampled on by Loretta Lynch.

Take the case of the Hirsch brothers in Long Island, for example.

Owners of Bi-County Distributors, many of their customers often paid in cash.

But when the Hirsch brothers made multiple large cash deposits of just under $10,000, federal agents accused them of attempting to avoid the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Without so much as a criminal charge, IRS thugs - under the direction of District Attorney Loretta Lynch - SEIZED the Hirsch brothers' ENTIRE bank account - over $445,000.

To make matters worse, even though the DA's office is supposed to initiate legal proceedings 60 days after seizing property, Loretta Lynch's office sat on the money for TWO YEARS - REFUSING to return it back to the Hirsch brothers.

Two years later, around the same time Barack Obama nominated her to replace Eric Holder as Attorney General, Loretta Lynch's office quietly returned the money - finding NO evidence of any wrongdoing by the Hirsch brothers!

If Loretta Lynch is confirmed as Attorney General, there's no doubt civil asset theft will massively expand all across the country.

And given the IRS targeting, intimidation, and harassment of conservative groups and organizations, you can be certain civil asset theft is a weapon Loretta Lynch will use to attack Barack Obama's political enemies.

That's why it's vital you sign your "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax to your U.S. Senators IMMEDIATELY.

Unfortunately, Loretta Lynch's love affair with civil asset theft is just the tip of the iceberg on why her nomination must be defeated.

You see, you can be certain Loretta Lynch plans to continue Eric Holder's practice of unilaterally expanding the authority of the Executive Branch and federal power.

Take a few examples from her Senate hearings:

*** NSA Spying.

When statist Republican Lindsey Graham asked her views on the constitutionality of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program, Lynch boldly called the program "constitutional and effective;"

*** Drone Strikes on American Citizens.

Like Attorney General Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch flat-out REFUSED to state whether or not she believed the President has the power to carry out drone strikes on US soil against American citizens;

*** Executive Authority.

Loretta Lynch supports Barack Obama's misuse of Executive Orders to effectively overturn the will of Congress and write news laws via executive fiat.

If you agree Loretta Lynch's nomination must be defeated, please sign your Action Fax to your U.S. Senators IMMEDIATELY.

The truth is, Loretta Lynch's confirmation vote is expected to come down to the wire - potentially being determined by as little as one vote.

At the moment, four Big Government Republicans have publicly declared their support for Lynch.

So assuming all Democrats and those four Republicans vote for Lynch, she'll get 50 votes - requiring Vice President Joe Biden to come in and cast the tiebreaker.

That's why you and I must not only keep the heat on we must turn it up like never before to DEFEAT Loretta Lynch's nomination.

So please sign your "Vote NO! on Lynch" Action Fax urging your U.S. Senators to vote against Loretta Lynch's nomination for Attorney General.

After you sign your Action Fax I must ask you to please chip in an emergency contribution to help C4L defeat Loretta Lynch's nomination.

As you know, Dr. Paul and I are bracing for another attack by the IRS on Campaign for Liberty.

The statists' goal is to cripple Campaign for Liberty and perhaps even force us to shut our doors.

And Loretta Lynch as Attorney General could drive the final nail in the coffin.

So today I must ask you to agree to an emergency gift of $30 .

I know that's a lot.

But we're talking about a position that commands 90,000 FBI Agents, investigators, lawyers, and troops.

This is not a game.

If we let up for a moment, Loretta Lynch could pick up the support she needs to take charge of the Justice Department and ramp up civil asset theft and other assaults on our liberties.

That's why I have no choice but to ask all Campaign for Liberty supporters to go above and beyond what they've done in the past.

But if $30 is just too much, won't you please agree to $20 or at least $10 ?

Whatever amount you can afford to contribute, even if it's just $5, will help C4L turn up the heat on the Senate to DEFEAT Loretta Lynch's nomination.

So please chip in whatever you can afford to this fight.

But most importantly, sign your Action Fax to your U.S. Senators IMMEDIATELY!

Thank you in advance for taking action.

In Liberty,

John Tate
President