WASHINGTON, United States. With five days in the legislative calendar remaining before a pivotal aspect of the Patriot Act expires, a new poll shows widespread antipathy to mass surveillance, a sense of where the debate over the National Security Agency’s powers stands outside of Washington.
Commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union and carried out by the Global Strategy Group and G2 Public Strategies, the poll of 1,001 likely voters found broad opposition to government surveillance across partisan, ideological, age and gender divides.
Sixty percent of likely voters believe the Patriot Act ought to be modified, against 34% that favor its retention in its current form. The NSA uses Section 215 of the Patriot Act as the legal basis for its daily collection of all Americans’ phone data, as the Guardian revealed in June 2013 thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden, a practice that a federal appeals court deemed illegal on 7 May.
Opposition to reauthorizing the Patriot Act without modification cuts against a bill by the GOP Senate leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The poll found 58% of Republicans favor modification, the subject of a rival bipartisan bill that recently passed the House, with only 36% of them favoring retention. Self-identified “very conservative” voters favor modification by a 59% to 34% margin.
The margins for Democrats are similar to those for Republicans. Independent voters, however, are even less enthusiastic about mass domestic surveillance: 71% want the Patriot Act modified, versus 22% who favor keeping it as it is, which pollster Greg Strimple called “intense”.
More than three-quarters of likely voters the poll interviewed opposed related aspects of current surveillance authorities and operations. Eighty-two percent are “concerned” about government collection and retention of their personal data. Eighty-three percent are concerned about government access to data stored by businesses without judicial orders, and 84% want the same judicial protections on their virtual data as exist for physical records on their property. The same percentage is concerned about government use of that data for non-counter-terrorism purposes.
“Consensus on this issue is bipartisan,” said Strimple.
“There’s real concern about what the government’s accessing about your personal life.”
Male voters are somewhat more opposed to unabridged Patriot Act reauthorization, though women oppose it, 57-38. Likely voters younger than 40 oppose it 65-30; voters 45 and older oppose it 59-35.
The poll comes as Senate battle lines are hardening over the future of bulk surveillance. The majority leader, McConnell, has yet to schedule a floor vote for a bill the House passed overwhelmingly on Thursday to divest the NSA of its domestic bulk phone records collection.
Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul has pledged to block any efforts that stop short of fully ending the NSA’s bulk collection. During a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Monday, Paul said he will “do everything possible” to reign in the government’s surveillance apparatus.
“Here in front of Independence Hall, I call on the president to obey the law,” said Paul, who is at odds with McConnell, his fellow Kentucky Republican. “They have the votes inside the Beltway. But we have the votes outside the Beltway, and we’ll have that fight.”
McConnell, backed by the intelligence committee chairman, Richard Burr, is backing an alternative that would formally authorize the bulk surveillance program, as well as every other investigative authority for the government under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which is currently set to expire on 1 June. The ACLU-commissioned poll did not specifically ask about attitudes toward Section 215 lapsing.
Some members of Senate GOP leadership have conceded that a full renewal of the law is unlikely to get the 60 votes it needs to break a filibuster, potentially paving the way for a short-term renewal to prevent a lapse in the programs.
Paul, along with Oregon senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, has already announced the McConnell-Burr bill dead on arrival and vowed to filibuster it. But while Wyden backs a version of the bill the House passed, known as the USA Freedom Act, Paul said Monday he opposes the legislation because it may still allow for the bulk collection of phone records.
Paul remained vague on how exactly he plans to stop a renewal of the program from clearing the Senate – namely whether he will mount a talking filibuster similar to the 2013 effort against drones that catapulted the first-term senator to the national stage. But he acknowledged delaying tactics might be his only option, given the lack of support in Congress to end the Patriot Act entirely.
McConnell took the opposite view of the House-passed bill on Sunday, stating his fear that the USA Freedom Act “will basically end the program”. The Senate majority leader said while he and Paul see eye-to-eye on most issues, they will simply have to agree to disagree on the topic of government’s surveillance.
“This is the security of the country we’re talking about here. This is no small matter,” McConnell said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week. “I want to reassure everybody that there are plenty of safeguards in this program. Nobody at the NSA is routinely listening in to your telephone conversations.”
Neema Singh Giuliani of the ACLU said the poll results show a “disconnection” between anti-surveillance fervor by voters and a congressional debate bounded by retained surveillance powers at one pole and what she described as the “modest reform” of the USA Freedom Act on the other.
“The fact that a lot of members of Congress are still pushing forward to try to reauthorize provisions of the law that many people find concerning is not reflective of the view of the vast majority of the public of both parties,” she said.
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UK To Publish EU Referendum Bill One Day After Queen’s Speech
LONDON, United Kingdom. David Cameron is to signal his determination to press ahead with the referendum on Britain’s European Union membership by publishing the parliamentary bill, which will pave the way for the vote, a day after the Queen’s speech next week.
The prime minister, who will chair the first political cabinet of the new parliament on Tuesday, will try to reassure Tory MPs that he will keep his word on Europe.
Cameron is determined to hold the referendum by the end of 2017. Among the parliamentary bills that will feature in the Queen’s speech, which will be delivered on 27 May, there will be a bill to implement the Smith commission recommendations on the further devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament, a schools bill to make it easier to allow failing or “coasting” schools to be turned into academies, and a new British bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act and reform the UK’s relationship with the European court of human rights. Sajid Javid, the business secretary, will pledge to save at least £10bn by cutting red tape for companies through a new enterprise bill.
After a meeting of the cabinet, the prime minister will then chair the political cabinet, at which he will outline his plans to occupy the political centre ground as the Tories claim the mantle of the one-nation party amid the “disarray” of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The political cabinet will be attended by Boris Johnson, who told Cameron that he would not take a full government post until he completed his term as London mayor next year.
Johnson has made it clear in recent months that he would be prepared to campaign for a British exit from the EU if European leaders rejected the prime minister’s demands for reform. But the mayor’s appointment to the political cabinet, where the political terms of the EU referendum campaign will be set, suggests that the prime minister is keen to tie Johnson to his plan.
Cameron received a boost when the Open Europe thinktank, which campaigns for major changes to the EU, gave an upbeat assessment of his chances on EU negotiations. It suggested that the prime minister had a good chance to win support for his plans to restrict in-work benefits for EU migrants and to secure protections for non-eurozone members of the EU. It even suggested that Cameron may be able to achieve the changes without rewriting treaties.
Raoul Ruparel, Open Europe’s head of economic research, said: “David Cameron will be squeezed between those who say no substantial reforms in Europe are possible and those who seek to set the bar so high that it is effectively code for exit before even trying to fundamentally reform the EU.
“He should ignore both camps and instead seek to balance the priorities of the UK public, businesses and his own party along with the achievability of the reforms in Europe,” he said.
The prime minister has made a point of binding the Thatcherite right into his EU renegotiation plans by appointing the arch-Eurosceptic John Whittingdale to the cabinet as culture secretary. Priti Patel, who worked for Sir James Goldsmith (founder of the short-lived Referendum party) during the 1997 general election campaign, attends cabinet as the employment minister.
Open Europe has released a detailed analysis of 30 areas of reform in the EU. The report suggests that there is a reasonable chance of reform in the four broad areas where the prime minister is demanding change. Open Europe suggests:
Restrictions on in-work benefits for EU migrants for four years – one of the prime minister’s most controversial demands – has a three out of five “achievability” rating. It suggests that this has a 50/50 chance of being negotiated without treaty change – something the prime minister will dispute. The thinktank suggests that the prime minister’s demand to tighten restrictions on the right of EU migrant jobseekers to remain in the UK has a four out of five rating and could be achieved without treaty change.
Safeguards for non-eurozone members in the EU’s single market – by allowing such countries to suspend “qualified majority voting” if a proposal impinges on their rights – has a three in five rating.
A “red card” to allow national parliaments to club together to block new EU legislation has a three in four rating.
Amending the EU’s historic mission, enshrined in the Treaty of Rome, to foster an “ever closer union among the peoples of Europe” has a four in five rating.
Open Europe believes that other leading EU member states will want to keep Britain in the EU. It believes that Britain may have a better chance of success if it does not rush the negotiations because the EU is so strongly focused on saving the eurozone at the moment in the face of the continuing Greek crisis. But it acknowledges that Britain may want to wrap up the negotiations before the French presidential election in the spring of 2017.
Credit: The Guardian (UK)
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Waco Biker Shoot-Out: 170 Face Charges In Texas
WACO (TEXAS), United States. Texas police say 170 people are to face organised crime charges after a bike-gang shooting that left nine people dead and 18 others injured.
The feud broke out between several gangs at a shopping district in Waco.
What started as a fist fight soon descended into a battle with knives, clubs, chains and eventually guns.
One witness described the scene as “a war zone”, while a Waco policeman called it the most gruesome scene he had encountered in his career.
The number of those charged was revised down from 192, a figure police announced early on Monday.
The incident happened shortly after midday on Sunday at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place.
Up to five rival gangs got into a fight, apparently over parking space near the restaurant. Diners and staff at the nearby cafe managed to lock themselves in a freezer room for safety and were later escorted off the premises by armed police.
“Twenty-five feet away there were families,” Waco police sergeant Patrick Swanton said.
“This is one of the worst gunfights we’ve ever had in the city limits. They started shooting at our officers.”
Twin Peaks’ management said on Monday it would close the Waco restaurant.
The restaurant’s corporate parent cut ties with the Waco location on Monday.
Rick van Warner, a spokesman for the company, said managers of the branch “chose to ignore the warnings and advice from both the police and our company, and did not uphold the high security standards we have in place to ensure everyone is safe at our restaurants.”
The authorities have increased security in the area to prevent further outbreaks of violence, as there are fears some of the gang members might return.
Police are to conduct tests on more than 100 cars or bikes found at the scene.
Who are the gangs who lost members in the shoot-out?
The Bandidos
Formed in Texas in 1966 by former US Marine Don Chambers
Now has between 2,000 and 2,500 members in 14 countries
Classified as an outlaw motorcycle gang by the FBI
Responsible for distributing cocaine and marijuana, according to the US Dept of Justice
Produce and distributes methamphetamine, according to the USDOJ
The Cossacks
Founded in 1969 in Texas
Motto: “We take care of our own”
Two members were stabbed in an attack, allegedly by Bandido members, in 2013
Sources: US Department of Justice, Bandidos MC, The One-Percenter Encyclopedia
Sgt Swanton said preliminary findings indicated that a dispute had broken out in a bathroom and eventually spilled over into the restaurant car park.
“I was amazed that we didn’t have innocent civilians killed or injured,” Sgt Swanton said.
“In 34 years of law enforcement, this is the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in,” he added.
A spokesman for McLennan County Court in Waco said the 170 people were being formally charged at the local jail, and that processing the large number of cases was proving to be “a big, big deal”.
Credit: BBC
