From Campaign For Liberty (Ron Paul):
Unless we act now, grassroots liberty activists across the country could suffer the same fate as General Michal Flynn, President Trump's former national security advisor.
As you may know, General Flynn was forced to resign because of leaked information. . .
Information obtained by warrantless wiretapping authorized by Section 702 of the FISA Act.
Section 702 is supposed to only apply to warrantless wiretapping of foreigners, but snoop state agents have used it to gather information on American citizens who have contact — or may have had contact — with foreign citizens.
It’s a definition so broad that it encompasses almost every American!
Section 702 was even used to justify the mass surveillance program exposed by Edward Snowden.
For years, critics of warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance warned that these powers could — and would — be used to harass and silence critics of the government. . .
Now with the takedown of General Flynn, our worst fears have been confirmed.
Prominent politicians and mainstream media figures are celebrating the use of unconstitutional surveillance which forced a member of the President’s cabinet to resign.
And they are calling for the "Deep State” — the network of "intelligence” agencies, their defenders and allies on Capitol Hill, and the “mainstream” media — to step up their efforts to undermine the Trump Administration. . .
If the Deep State can successfully target a prominent public figure like General Flynn, then what is to stop them from targeting grassroots Americans working to restore the government to its constitutional limits, end our hyper-interventionist foreign policy, and strike directly at the heart of the welfare-warfare state and crony capitalism by auditing — then ending — the Federal Reserve?
We have already seen attempts at the state level to silence pro-liberty activists by imposing burdensome regulations on them.
And of course, we have also seen the IRS's targeting of pro-liberty groups under the prior administration, as well as the IRS’s ongoing efforts to force Campaign for Liberty to divulge the names of some of our most loyal supporters.
We have even seen efforts to silence groups like Campaign for Liberty by preventing us from talking about a politician’s record in the months before an election.
Considering these ongoing efforts to criminalize Campaign for Liberty, is it really so unbelievable that the Deep State will also work to quash the liberty movement?
. . . Especially if they can do so with the enthusiastic support of establishment politicians and mainstream and (neo) conservative media?
The threat that the Deep State will use Section 702 and other surveillance powers to intimidate the liberty movement makes it all the more imperative that we act and act NOW to force Congress to restore the Fourth Amendment.
The good news is that we have an opportunity to do just that. . .
You see, unless Congress acts, Section 702 expires this year, guaranteeing that Congress will debate the future of warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance rule in the coming months.
Campaign for Liberty is already working to take advantage of this debate to not just kill Section 702, but also force Congress to further limit the ability of government bureaucrats to spy on us without a warrant.
Make no mistake: this will be a difficult battle.
Deep State allies on Capitol Hill and in the media, aided by lobbyists for the crony capitalists who profit by helping government take away your rights, will use every bit of their considerable influence to continue the ongoing assault on the Fourth Amendment and your liberties.
So is there any way I can count of you to help stop the Deep State by ending the surveillance state with a contribution of $15?
With the Flynn case demonstrating the real threat that warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance poses to the liberty movement, we must not let the opportunity to kill laws like Section 702 slip through our hands.
The fallout from the use of information obtained via warrantless wiretapping to take down General Flynn may have gained us new allies in or fight to end unconstitutional surveillance, both in Congress and in the administration.
Campaign for Liberty must reach out to potential new allies and make sure pro-liberty Americans are ready to stand with you and me in this battle.
We must also target wavering Senators and Representatives with targeted emails and banner ads on popular websites like Google and Facebook.
Campaign for Liberty members like you have already defied conventional wisdom in battles against unconstitutional mass surveillance.
In 2015, my son, Senator Rand Paul, successfully, if only temporarily, blocked renewal of three of the worst PATRIOT Act provisions. . .
The only reason Rand was able to do this was because Campaign for Liberty members like you helped us turn up the heat on Senators by flooding their offices with phone calls, faxes, and emails. . . plus we were able to target key Senators with Banner Bombs in their states.
If we can duplicate this effort — but on a much larger scale — I am confident we can repeal Section 702 and other unconstitutional laws authoring government spying on innocent citizens.
So if $15 is too much, is there any way I can a can count on you for a special contribution of $10?
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Tell Ajit Pai to leave net neutrality alone
From Free Press:
Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the FCC’s historic vote to pass real Net Neutrality rules.
But while more than 4 million people, organizations and businesses urged the FCC to pass the open internet rules, Net Neutrality is facing its biggest threat yet under the Trump administration.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants Net Neutrality gone. Since Pai became chairman a month ago, public interest groups, the New York Times and the Washington Post alike have lambasted him for making moves that will harm the people who have the least power.
Net Neutrality is NOT negotiable and we need Chairman Pai to hear this.
While Pai claims he supports a free and open internet, he’s been one of the most vitriolic opponents of the rules that were put in place to keep it that way. When the FCC passed its rules in 2015, Pai offered a lengthy dissent, arguing they were part of an elaborate Obama conspiracy to “regulate the internet.”
Talk about alternative facts.
In truth, the rules don’t regulate the internet; they keep broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from messing with what we do online. The FCC simply reclassified these companies under an existing law that preserves the rights we’ve always had to defend ourselves against communications carriers bent on interfering with our speech.
Tell Chairman Pai to back off and leave Net Neutrality alone.
We’ve been fighting for the open internet for over a decade and have no intentions of stopping now. Last week we delivered nearly 200,000 signatures in support of Net Neutrality to the FCC’s open meeting. And today we’re co-sponsoring a briefing with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition to discuss the threats and opportunities that lie ahead.
Pai needs to know we aren’t going anywhere. Send him a message today.
Thanks for all that you do—
Candace, Dutch and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Don’t let Chairman Pai destroy Net Neutrality: Urge him to leave the open internet alone.
P.P.S. Fund the fight at Free Press: We're on CREDO Action's ballot this month and every vote we get = more money to support our work. Thank you!
Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the FCC’s historic vote to pass real Net Neutrality rules.
But while more than 4 million people, organizations and businesses urged the FCC to pass the open internet rules, Net Neutrality is facing its biggest threat yet under the Trump administration.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants Net Neutrality gone. Since Pai became chairman a month ago, public interest groups, the New York Times and the Washington Post alike have lambasted him for making moves that will harm the people who have the least power.
Net Neutrality is NOT negotiable and we need Chairman Pai to hear this.
While Pai claims he supports a free and open internet, he’s been one of the most vitriolic opponents of the rules that were put in place to keep it that way. When the FCC passed its rules in 2015, Pai offered a lengthy dissent, arguing they were part of an elaborate Obama conspiracy to “regulate the internet.”
Talk about alternative facts.
In truth, the rules don’t regulate the internet; they keep broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from messing with what we do online. The FCC simply reclassified these companies under an existing law that preserves the rights we’ve always had to defend ourselves against communications carriers bent on interfering with our speech.
Tell Chairman Pai to back off and leave Net Neutrality alone.
We’ve been fighting for the open internet for over a decade and have no intentions of stopping now. Last week we delivered nearly 200,000 signatures in support of Net Neutrality to the FCC’s open meeting. And today we’re co-sponsoring a briefing with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition to discuss the threats and opportunities that lie ahead.
Pai needs to know we aren’t going anywhere. Send him a message today.
Thanks for all that you do—
Candace, Dutch and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Don’t let Chairman Pai destroy Net Neutrality: Urge him to leave the open internet alone.
P.P.S. Fund the fight at Free Press: We're on CREDO Action's ballot this month and every vote we get = more money to support our work. Thank you!
Monday, February 27, 2017
Trump’s Proposed Pot Crackdown Is Out Of Step With Voters, Including Many Republicans
The Republican Party controls the legislative and executive branch for the first time since the 109th Congress. Understandably, leadership is anxious to push forward an agenda that comports with longstanding conservative principles of limited government as well as with the President’s populist rhetoric. Advocating for marijuana policy reform ought to be part of this federal agenda. Here’s why.
The election of Donald J. Trump was not the only politically significant victory on Election Day. Somewhat lost in the media frenzy was that millions of voters went chose to put an end to America’s nearly century long experiment with cannabis criminalization.
Majorities of voters in eight states decided in favor of initiatives to permit the use of marijuana by either adults or by qualified patients, and to regulate those markets accordingly. Voters’ support for reform was essentially non-partisan. Blue states like California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada voted in favor of legalization, as did red states like Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota.
To those of us who have worked on this issue for some time, these results were hardly surprising. Outside of the Beltway, Americans’ support for enacting regulatory alternatives to pot prohibition is uniquely bipartisan. According to the latest national polling by Gallup, six out of ten Americans believe that the adult use of marijuana “should be made legal.” By party, Gallup pollsters found that legalization was most likely to be favored by Independents and Democrats, but also that support among Republicans had more than doubled over the past decade.
Support among Republicans for legalizing medical marijuana is even higher, with 85 percent of GOP voters endorsing its therapeutic use, according to nationwide survey data released this week by Quinnipiac University. But perhaps most strikingly, Quinnipiac pollsters also reported that nearly three-quarters of voters – including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – “oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.”
Nonetheless, the Trump administration appears to be planning on doing just that. In fact, on the same day that Quinnipiac released its latest survey data, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer indicated that the Justice Department was intending to pursue the “greater enforcement” of federal anti-marijuana laws in the eight states that now regulate its adult use.
Such a move by the federal government would be a stark departure from the position of the prior administration, which largely let these voter-initiated laws move forward unfettered. It also represents an about-face in Trump’s own position, as he previously said that he would not use federal authority to target adult use laws. For instance, while campaigning in Colorado in August, Trump responded to the question “[Do] you think Colorado should be able to do what it’s doing?” by stating, “I think it’s up to the states, yeah. I’m a states person. I think it should be up to the states, absolutely.”
And so it should be. According to a 2016 report by the CATO think-tank, these adult use regulatory schemes are working largely as voters intended. They are not associated with increased marijuana use among young people, or rising rates of crime or accidents in the workplace. “The absence of significant adverse consequences is especially striking given the sometimes dire predictions made by legalization opponents,” the report’s authors concluded. Further, tax revenue derived from the regulated markets now exceeds initial expectations.
Rather than picking an unnecessary fight with the majority of American voters, including a significant portion of Trump’s own base, the administration should consider embracing common sense marijuana law reforms. Endorsing bipartisan legislation, HR 975: The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act,” would be a good place to start. In accordance with the electorate’s wishes, passage of the act would prevent the federal government from criminally prosecuting individuals or businesses that are engaging in state-sanctioned activities specific to the possession, use, production, and distribution of marijuana.
Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans’ consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for politicians to acknowledge this reality and amend federal marijuana laws in a manner that comports with majority public opinion and the plant’s rapidly changing legal and cultural status. The Trump administration has the opportunity to take the lead on this issue. It would be an enormous political misstep for them to do otherwise.
Source
The election of Donald J. Trump was not the only politically significant victory on Election Day. Somewhat lost in the media frenzy was that millions of voters went chose to put an end to America’s nearly century long experiment with cannabis criminalization.
Majorities of voters in eight states decided in favor of initiatives to permit the use of marijuana by either adults or by qualified patients, and to regulate those markets accordingly. Voters’ support for reform was essentially non-partisan. Blue states like California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada voted in favor of legalization, as did red states like Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota.
To those of us who have worked on this issue for some time, these results were hardly surprising. Outside of the Beltway, Americans’ support for enacting regulatory alternatives to pot prohibition is uniquely bipartisan. According to the latest national polling by Gallup, six out of ten Americans believe that the adult use of marijuana “should be made legal.” By party, Gallup pollsters found that legalization was most likely to be favored by Independents and Democrats, but also that support among Republicans had more than doubled over the past decade.
Support among Republicans for legalizing medical marijuana is even higher, with 85 percent of GOP voters endorsing its therapeutic use, according to nationwide survey data released this week by Quinnipiac University. But perhaps most strikingly, Quinnipiac pollsters also reported that nearly three-quarters of voters – including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – “oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.”
Nonetheless, the Trump administration appears to be planning on doing just that. In fact, on the same day that Quinnipiac released its latest survey data, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer indicated that the Justice Department was intending to pursue the “greater enforcement” of federal anti-marijuana laws in the eight states that now regulate its adult use.
Such a move by the federal government would be a stark departure from the position of the prior administration, which largely let these voter-initiated laws move forward unfettered. It also represents an about-face in Trump’s own position, as he previously said that he would not use federal authority to target adult use laws. For instance, while campaigning in Colorado in August, Trump responded to the question “[Do] you think Colorado should be able to do what it’s doing?” by stating, “I think it’s up to the states, yeah. I’m a states person. I think it should be up to the states, absolutely.”
And so it should be. According to a 2016 report by the CATO think-tank, these adult use regulatory schemes are working largely as voters intended. They are not associated with increased marijuana use among young people, or rising rates of crime or accidents in the workplace. “The absence of significant adverse consequences is especially striking given the sometimes dire predictions made by legalization opponents,” the report’s authors concluded. Further, tax revenue derived from the regulated markets now exceeds initial expectations.
Rather than picking an unnecessary fight with the majority of American voters, including a significant portion of Trump’s own base, the administration should consider embracing common sense marijuana law reforms. Endorsing bipartisan legislation, HR 975: The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act,” would be a good place to start. In accordance with the electorate’s wishes, passage of the act would prevent the federal government from criminally prosecuting individuals or businesses that are engaging in state-sanctioned activities specific to the possession, use, production, and distribution of marijuana.
Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans’ consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for politicians to acknowledge this reality and amend federal marijuana laws in a manner that comports with majority public opinion and the plant’s rapidly changing legal and cultural status. The Trump administration has the opportunity to take the lead on this issue. It would be an enormous political misstep for them to do otherwise.
Source
Tell the President what you want
From the White House:
Before President Trump delivers his biggest speech to date, he wants you to provide your input on the direction of our country.
He is taking the podium to voice your concerns, thoughts, and opinions about the state of our nation, and more importantly, to lay out a bold plan for our future as Americans.
Please take the STATE OF THE UNION SURVEY before 10PM EST TONIGHT to help shape the message of President Trump’s biggest speech yet.
President Trump ran for president because he couldn’t stand to see what was happening to the greatest country in the history of mankind.
You -- and millions of other hardworking citizens who love America -- agreed that our country was on the wrong path and banded together to form a movement the likes of which the world had never seen.
But our fight to save America didn’t end on election night. It’s just now getting started.
It’s time to show the country that our positive America First platform can truly Make America Great Again!
Please take the STATE OF THE UNION SURVEY before 10PM EST TONIGHT to help shape the message of President Trump’s biggest speech yet.
Thanks,
Team TRUMP
TAKE THE SURVEY
Before President Trump delivers his biggest speech to date, he wants you to provide your input on the direction of our country.
He is taking the podium to voice your concerns, thoughts, and opinions about the state of our nation, and more importantly, to lay out a bold plan for our future as Americans.
Please take the STATE OF THE UNION SURVEY before 10PM EST TONIGHT to help shape the message of President Trump’s biggest speech yet.
President Trump ran for president because he couldn’t stand to see what was happening to the greatest country in the history of mankind.
You -- and millions of other hardworking citizens who love America -- agreed that our country was on the wrong path and banded together to form a movement the likes of which the world had never seen.
But our fight to save America didn’t end on election night. It’s just now getting started.
It’s time to show the country that our positive America First platform can truly Make America Great Again!
Please take the STATE OF THE UNION SURVEY before 10PM EST TONIGHT to help shape the message of President Trump’s biggest speech yet.
Thanks,
Team TRUMP
TAKE THE SURVEY
Saturday, February 25, 2017
5 Things Donald Trump Should Know Before He Shuts Down The Legal Marijuana Industry
Marijuana, like alcohol, can regulated, taxed and used in moderation by adults who choose it, like a glass of wine with dinner. The burgeoning legal cannabis industry wants Donald Trump to know five critical benefits to marijuana legalization.
1. Law and Order: Legalizing marijuana reduces the criminal activity of drug cartels and gangs, and reduces court, prison and police spending.
2. Public Health: Marijuana is safer in states where it has been legalized because it is tested, appropriately labeled, and packaged in child-proof containers.
3. Reduced Addiction: Marijuana is not a gateway to opiate use, it is an Off-ramp. Many prefer switching to marijuana for pain relief because it has fewer side effects than opioids and is not addictive. Marijuana is NOT a killer – it does not bind to respiratory cells, so an overdose does not stop a person from breathing. Opioids do bind to respiratory cells and overdoses do kill.
4. Fiscal Health: Taxing marijuana already produces hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
5. Job Creation: More than 100,000 have been employed so far. In Washington State, cannabis is now the 3rd largest cash crop.
Entrepreneurs in the legal marijuana industry believe that the plant should be taken off the federal schedule 1 (most harmful) list of substances, or at least continue to leave the issue of legalization up to each state. Recent statements by the Trump administration indicate that will not happen. Here, executives in the industry share their experiences and advice for the President and his advisors:
Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots: Colorado is one of the only states in the nation that is seeing a decline in opioid deaths — that’s not a coincidence. Cannabis is a healthy alternative to pain pills and heroin, not a gateway to it.
Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech: “We have hoped and still hope that the federal government will respect states’ rights in the same manner they have on several other issues. We hope the new administration really takes the time to understand that the money is either going into the states’ coffers or making its way to drug cartels.”
Danny Davis, Convectium, Managing Partner: Many of the states who helped elect President Trump just voted to also support recreational marijuana; it is hard to imagine that he would push an agenda with the support ratings where they are.”
Christie Strong, Marketing Communications Manager of Kiva Confections: “Over 60% of Americans supports cannabis legalization. It is one of the few bi-partisan issues that actually has the potential to unite us right now.”
Jeffrey Zucker, President of Green Lion Partners: “I hope that the administration takes the time to truly immerse and educate themselves on cannabis before making any destructive decisions. The incredibly positive medical, social, and economic impact cannabis legalization has had on regulated states is undeniable. The cannabis industry will fight any pressure from the federal government to set back the significant progress that’s been made thus far.
Source
Let's tell the President about this article. You can email him or send him a tweet or both. I wouldn't stop there. Also let your Congressperson and Senators know as well. The more of us they hear from the better.
1. Law and Order: Legalizing marijuana reduces the criminal activity of drug cartels and gangs, and reduces court, prison and police spending.
2. Public Health: Marijuana is safer in states where it has been legalized because it is tested, appropriately labeled, and packaged in child-proof containers.
3. Reduced Addiction: Marijuana is not a gateway to opiate use, it is an Off-ramp. Many prefer switching to marijuana for pain relief because it has fewer side effects than opioids and is not addictive. Marijuana is NOT a killer – it does not bind to respiratory cells, so an overdose does not stop a person from breathing. Opioids do bind to respiratory cells and overdoses do kill.
4. Fiscal Health: Taxing marijuana already produces hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
5. Job Creation: More than 100,000 have been employed so far. In Washington State, cannabis is now the 3rd largest cash crop.
Entrepreneurs in the legal marijuana industry believe that the plant should be taken off the federal schedule 1 (most harmful) list of substances, or at least continue to leave the issue of legalization up to each state. Recent statements by the Trump administration indicate that will not happen. Here, executives in the industry share their experiences and advice for the President and his advisors:
Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots: Colorado is one of the only states in the nation that is seeing a decline in opioid deaths — that’s not a coincidence. Cannabis is a healthy alternative to pain pills and heroin, not a gateway to it.
Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech: “We have hoped and still hope that the federal government will respect states’ rights in the same manner they have on several other issues. We hope the new administration really takes the time to understand that the money is either going into the states’ coffers or making its way to drug cartels.”
Danny Davis, Convectium, Managing Partner: Many of the states who helped elect President Trump just voted to also support recreational marijuana; it is hard to imagine that he would push an agenda with the support ratings where they are.”
Christie Strong, Marketing Communications Manager of Kiva Confections: “Over 60% of Americans supports cannabis legalization. It is one of the few bi-partisan issues that actually has the potential to unite us right now.”
Jeffrey Zucker, President of Green Lion Partners: “I hope that the administration takes the time to truly immerse and educate themselves on cannabis before making any destructive decisions. The incredibly positive medical, social, and economic impact cannabis legalization has had on regulated states is undeniable. The cannabis industry will fight any pressure from the federal government to set back the significant progress that’s been made thus far.
Source
Let's tell the President about this article. You can email him or send him a tweet or both. I wouldn't stop there. Also let your Congressperson and Senators know as well. The more of us they hear from the better.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
FBI wants less transparency
From Free Press:
The FBI is planning to take a big step backward for government transparency.
As of March 1, the agency will no longer accept Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests via email. Anyone seeking public records from the bureau will have to use a new online portal — or send requests via fax or snail mail.
Online FOIA portals may seem like a good idea in theory, but in reality, government agencies make them difficult and cumbersome to use and they include unnecessary hurdles.
Tell the FBI to keep accepting FOIA requests via email and cut out arbitrary restrictions.
The Freedom of Information Act gives us a legal right to request public records, which allow journalists and watchdogs to hold the government accountable. FOIA requests uncovered harmful covert operations like COINTELPRO — an FBI program with the goal of dismantling civil rights groups, among others — and also exposed government surveillance of Black Lives Matter activists. Given the Trump administration's hostile attitude toward the press and activists, we need our government to be more transparent, not less.
Our friends at MuckRock, who help journalists and others access public records, raised the alarm when the terms of service of the new FBI portal came to light. These include arbitrary restrictions that aren’t consistent with the law:
• Requests can’t be longer than 3,000 characters.
• Individuals aren’t eligible for the reduced fees available to media outlets, meaning that freelance journalists, and others, will have to pay extra when filing requests.
• Memos, emails, and other internal communications appear to be off-limits to requesters — a restriction that undermines government transparency.
While these terms of service might be improved going forward, the FBI has shown that it can and will arbitrarily change them without public comment.
Tell the FBI to keep its FOIA email up and running and to drop the arbitrary restrictions.
Freedom of information advocates have been fighting with the federal government over FOIA for a long time. And this isn’t the first time a government agency has spent taxpayer money to make public records less accessible.
Our federal government is harming so many communities — we need government transparency now more than ever.
Thanks for all that you do—
Fiona, Mike, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Urge the FBI to make our government more transparent, not less.
Thank you!
We as a democratic republic cannot tolerate this. The government has to be transparent or the government will become tyrannical. That is why I am suggesting we also contact our Congressional Representative and our Senators and let them know about the FBI's conduct. The more of us they hear from the better.
The FBI is planning to take a big step backward for government transparency.
As of March 1, the agency will no longer accept Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests via email. Anyone seeking public records from the bureau will have to use a new online portal — or send requests via fax or snail mail.
Online FOIA portals may seem like a good idea in theory, but in reality, government agencies make them difficult and cumbersome to use and they include unnecessary hurdles.
Tell the FBI to keep accepting FOIA requests via email and cut out arbitrary restrictions.
The Freedom of Information Act gives us a legal right to request public records, which allow journalists and watchdogs to hold the government accountable. FOIA requests uncovered harmful covert operations like COINTELPRO — an FBI program with the goal of dismantling civil rights groups, among others — and also exposed government surveillance of Black Lives Matter activists. Given the Trump administration's hostile attitude toward the press and activists, we need our government to be more transparent, not less.
Our friends at MuckRock, who help journalists and others access public records, raised the alarm when the terms of service of the new FBI portal came to light. These include arbitrary restrictions that aren’t consistent with the law:
• Requests can’t be longer than 3,000 characters.
• Individuals aren’t eligible for the reduced fees available to media outlets, meaning that freelance journalists, and others, will have to pay extra when filing requests.
• Memos, emails, and other internal communications appear to be off-limits to requesters — a restriction that undermines government transparency.
While these terms of service might be improved going forward, the FBI has shown that it can and will arbitrarily change them without public comment.
Tell the FBI to keep its FOIA email up and running and to drop the arbitrary restrictions.
Freedom of information advocates have been fighting with the federal government over FOIA for a long time. And this isn’t the first time a government agency has spent taxpayer money to make public records less accessible.
Our federal government is harming so many communities — we need government transparency now more than ever.
Thanks for all that you do—
Fiona, Mike, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Urge the FBI to make our government more transparent, not less.
Thank you!
We as a democratic republic cannot tolerate this. The government has to be transparent or the government will become tyrannical. That is why I am suggesting we also contact our Congressional Representative and our Senators and let them know about the FBI's conduct. The more of us they hear from the better.
Tell Trump to leave recreational marijuana alone
From Marijuana Majority:
Let me get right to the point: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer just said he believes there will be "greater enforcement" of federal marijuana laws.
This is not acceptable, and would go against President Trump's repeated campaign pledges to respect state cannabis policies.
We need you to take action right now...
Sign our WhiteHouse.gov petition telling the administration that they need to keep Trump's promise to let states implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference.
Tell The White House To Respect State Marijuana Laws.
Stay tuned for more details...
Thanks for doing your part and raising your voice,
Tom Angell
Founder and Chairman
Marijuana Majority
Let me get right to the point: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer just said he believes there will be "greater enforcement" of federal marijuana laws.
This is not acceptable, and would go against President Trump's repeated campaign pledges to respect state cannabis policies.
We need you to take action right now...
Sign our WhiteHouse.gov petition telling the administration that they need to keep Trump's promise to let states implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference.
Tell The White House To Respect State Marijuana Laws.
Stay tuned for more details...
Thanks for doing your part and raising your voice,
Tom Angell
Founder and Chairman
Marijuana Majority
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