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1,582-Page Spending Bill Hinges On NSA Giving Congress 5 Years Of Records
The 1,582-page (apparently bipartisan) omnibus spending bill announced last night adds up to a cool $1.1 trillion. As Bloomberg reports, lawmakers notes "not everyone will like everything in this bill," and we can see why. There is no IMF funding, nothing that "blocks Obamacare," the IRS gets a reprimand - barring them from targetng groups based on their ideological beliefs, preserves language that blocks Federal funding for abortions and spending any money to legalize marijuana. But, perhaps the most critical aspect of the bill is the NSA is required to give Congress number of phone records collected, reviewed during last 5 yrs, including estimate for records of U.S. citizens (among other things). Will that be one step too far for the administration?
Via Bloomberg:
Amendment to omnibus spending bill requires NSA to give Congress number of phone records collected, reviewed during last 5 yrs, including estimate for records of U.S. citizens.
NSA would have to provide unclassified report describing all spy programs that collect bulk data, including cost of programs, types of records being collected, kinds of data NSA plans to collect in future
NSA would have to file second unclassified report listing terrorist activities disrupted with aid of bulk phone records, detailing whether necessary information could have been obtained by other means
While this may be too much for the adminstration to bear, the Treasury is not happy that they can't provide the standard reacharound to the IMF...
The Treasury Department has been seeking for months to boost the U.S.’s share, or quota, at the Washington-based IMF by shifting about $63 billion from an existing credit line. The U.S. is holding up the 2010 agreement by all of the IMF member countries, then totaling 187, to double the fund’s lending capacity to about $733 billion.
Holly Shulman, a Treasury spokeswoman, said in a statement that the department was disappointed that Congress had failed to include the quota funding, adding that “the IMF is critically important to U.S. economic and national security interests.”
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As my wife's shrink often says; "tell me, how does this make you feel?"
(because there sure as shit isn't a damn thing you can do about it).
Anyone find an ETF for guillotine manufacturers yet?
really hoping to front-run that bubble...
Another whole mess of laws that will be ignored by the current regime.
The only thing that will stop the IRS is the ability of any US citizen to prosecute the IRS and its employees in court, completely bypassing the gubmint.
The NSA will again lie to Congress and the citizenry.
The NSA is rogue, a huge danger to the world, must be liquidated.
Red Team-Blue Team jawbone games, entirely designed for public consumption.
Eat it up, Amerika.
Yes, although I will give these puppets credit for trying to show the taxpayer what they have been paying for and all the "work" that the NSA has been doing to keep "everyone safe". Because, you know that's how it will be spun.
"All your cell phone calls are belong to us"
--NSA
Congress wants the phone records so that they may delete their own...
"and spending any money to legalize marijuana."
Then don't spend any... just say it is ok.
"The only thing that will stop the IRS is the ability of any US citizen to..."
Benelli.........
I thought the courts were the gubmint
Business as usual, serfs! Suck it up!
"Holly Shulman, a Treasury spokeswoman, said in a statement that the department was disappointed that Congress had failed to include the quota funding, adding that “the IMF is critically important to U.S. economic and national security interests.”
His name was Francis Sawyer.
Given that the IMF is NOT part of the governing structure, shouldn't that statement be considered treason?
/rhetorical
........Given that the IMF is NOT part of the governing structure,
The IMF is in fact part of the governing structure.
The IMF is a corporation itself. a subsidiary of its parent corp. As is the U.S. a corp, a subsidiary of its parent corp. All these layers (corps) make up the whole.
The IRS is a corp. based in Puerto Rico for example.
If the IMF is not part of a governing structure why are they the agency that issues Social Security payments, for example?
Now if we just knew who the Parent corp. of all this was.............................
oh oh oh oh, pick me! pick me! I know this one!
who? the guy, psycho, from stripes?
What about the debt ceiling?
Number monitored = all. Done, now give us the money
The report will be very generic and has nothing that was not already known. Besides, it will be classified for the next 1000 years.
Conclusion, it will cause some private feelings of disbelief among reps, but they will approve the bill anyway.
So it goes, says Vonnegut
A few hundred million blacked out lines, I'm guessing.
Is that to be sung to the tune of Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood?
The request for more information fron the NSA should have been lodged with Snowden.
i like how cnbc talked about the windows 8 disaster and how mirosoft was dealing with.this without telling it was the nsa built in back door that blew up in thier face. the damage is done bitchez cant unring a bell
This is a side bar, but I always thought it was curious how Microsoft royally screws up every other version of Windows (e.g. ME, Vista, now 8). 2K stuck around for years, they still can't get kill off XP, and 7 will be the same.
I could never decide if it was intentionally or not. Either way, Windows 8 sucks; I absolutely hate it. It will be interesting to see if we go with 8 or 7 this year when we spend some capital budget ...
Regards,
Cooter
We've just now moved to 7. I virtualized my XP box and still run my old stuff on it, rather than try to install it all on 7.
I find it amusing that even this far along, many applications will only work in 32 bit.
With you there, Windows 8 "sucks ass" as my old girlfriend liked to say.
Oddly enough, it mirrors the XBOX control screen (using a controller and icons to navigate, and having to choose letters and numbers one at a time with the left joystick). UGH!
It's as if they are trying to kill the keyboard and operating systems altogether.
Dumbing things down to icons only.
De-evolution for sure.
Microshaft is trying to steal market share from these guys...
Who'da thunk that Microsoft would field a "Totally Open" platform!!! LOL *
* Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are NOT out to get you...
I have 7 and bought my wife a new computer for Christmas that has 8, we both can't stand it. I actually installed Start8 on it to bring back the start button! I use the start button ALL the time, why the hell would they remove it?
Honestly though, it didn't stand a chance anyway, with the idiotic belief that one OS will fit every device.
Think about it, they can't even integrate their own products without all sorts of incompatibility issues, let alone across hardware platforms.
Only MS fanbois (ala "MS Certified") are foolish enough to waste their money on this crap.
Now we know why the 4-week was bid to 0.00 !!
Tee up another Beltway Shitshow !
Holy shit mon or Holly Shulman whatever Arrest her for treason. Send in forces that would make Kim Dotcom's arrest for copyright infringment look like a traffic ticket.
What they mean is that the IMF is "critically important" to the big bank's balance sheets which is all the treasury or the fed give a flying fig about.
I keep forgetting, is the IMF the fulcrum, or the lever upon which the world is so critically balanced?
the world needs the imf like a fish needs a bicycle
I'm not sure what good the NSA section does. I mean, the NSA can simply provide any number they wish. Total number of Americans phones metadata captured? "43"... prove otherwise.... Really I mean Congress has no way of validating any reply the NSA gives so what is the point? I say just defund them....
I have yet to understand the point of any of the stipulations, beyond a dog and pony show.
I think that it is expected to work like this: we know from the last round, that Obama and the Senate will want to force a shutdown, because they believe that this benefits them in the polls, so they will refuse to consider the House bill. This makes such refusal look like a desire to protect NSA spying on US citizens.
The IMF will get funding regardless of amount.
What?
Now how is the N.S.A. going to twist CONgress's arm to allow them to continue to rape the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
There will definitely be some behind the scenes "discussions" of browsing habits and txt messages of key CONgress Critters.
IMF reach-around? How else can the Treasury, in collusion with the FED, maintain the bankster ponzi?
Get Timmy on it behind the scenes! Send him to Christine Lagarde!
This shall not stand! Forward Kleptoligarchy!
Frodo! The ring!
It comes down to which institution has the most power. How much dirt do you think the NSA has on congressional members that is usable to 'influence' them? How intelligent do you think individual congressional members are, or how morally do they behave?
The IMF is a branch of the US Fed. Its not going anywhere until the Fed becomes a thing of the past. Isn't it a rewarding feeling to know that US tax dollars are going to help fund Greece?
fuck the IMF
Dear Congreff,
Fuck off and die.
Sincerely, The NSA
All the NSA has to do is use the backdoors on congress' personal computers and put on a blaring teen porn pic as soon as they log on to their laptops. Problem taken care of.
And for women, have them receive their naked photos in front of the quietly turned on webcam.
I have friends that owe me money on Obamacare. They seemed to think that the Repubs would "unfund" it. LOL
"Silly rabbits, 'parties' are for kids."
Will NSA promise to really tell the whole truth and produce all the records? Do NSA estimates have to be accurate, with criminal penalties? If they don't remove funding, the NSA can continue with its past abuses. Aren't we getting nothing that Snowdon didn't already tell us? Are we to be happy because they got together and spent more? Is the IMF funding going to added as an additional expenditure later, just as they want to add an unemployment extension as additional spending after just approving a budget?
Has the government been fudging employment numbers? Do you think NSA will have any moral compunction about doing a better job at forging?
clown government - congress scolds the irs for engaging in criminal conduct?????? what happened to prosecution?
it is reserved for us lowly peasants who beg left overs
Neither bankers nor tax collectors ever go to prison. They are both vital to funding bankrupt government and are therefore untouchable.
Eric Holder happened to prosecution, and he only prosecutes white (or white-hispanic) men.
Pop quiz: Which branch of the Federal Govt is responsible for "enforcing" the Law(s)?
We have no laws. Just Acts, EO's and enforce public policy. They just call them laws so it seems we still have a government and a Constitution. That's it.
We haven't exercised laws in the country since 1933. Look for yourself.
Keeping us in a perpetual state of war avoids them from having to return to the Constitution.
Pretty cool huh?
What Records?
Best Guvment money can buy.
Why it won't happen.
Because the American people won't be demanding it in the meaningful numbers that matter, and because the Greenwald/Snowden revelations are (nothing more nothing less) then another "test" to see if the 'patient' is still awake.
Once Congress realizes the meaningful majority don't care the vice will tighten further.
Congress already knows
So does Glenn Greenwald and Ed Snowden.
That article by Kevin Ryan pretty much says it all about why we need to start questioning the source as it's beginning to smell like another Julian Assange moment where their is frenzied interest that simply dissipates with time and more control of both the message and messenger.
Wonder if Glenn is willing to risk everything in the money department by asking Ed for an interview to get his views on the evidence of 9/11? We certainly know what Julian thinks on the subject and it's significance.
julian asshat
ed snowjob
Here's what has the NSA pissed off (as if we give a shit at this point):
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2014/01/nsa-surveillance/
Actually somone has gone through this and brought to us some os the pet projects that made it into this spending...60 billion for milk nursing assistants...WTF ..a woman needs a counsler to breast feed now I guess....what a stupid society we live in....and as nancy pelosi says..no more room to cut here...
Yep. Extending emergency unemployment payments is critical, but not important enough to defund anything else for.
SHIT, round it off to a cool $2 Trillion - "After all, what difference does it make?"
What is this 1.1 trillion number? Is this the projected deficit?
"Here are the records, chumps, sorry if they are solid black 100% redacted. They have been sanitized for National Security reasons."
"Turn over the cash, eat shit, don't assume it's ours, and fuck off!"
NSA does not need funding..if they cant make their own money with all that insider information..no one can...
Brepare to Un-Hinge. Bitchez
Who ever wrote the NSA provision is out of their fucking mind - or a foreign agent.
No, they just want to depict Obama and the Senate as defending the NSA, when they turn down the House bill. That's just politics.
Long warehouse storage in the D.C. area. That's gonna be A LOT OF RECORDS!
Long shredders.