BUSH - COVERING HIS ASS - THE BEST HE KNOWS HOW

Marketplace: Negroponte given power to waive SEC rules


In a most interesting report, a reporter with Marketplace heard on National Public Radio reports on unusual development, this quietly took place this month that could have some very large implications.

On May 5, President Bush has granted his intelligence czar the authority to exempt publicly traded companies from any and all reporting requirements of their financial dealings. That is the same day that Porter Goss stepped as director of the CIA, and six days before USA Today published its story that three major telephone companies had turned over massive amounts of customer calling records to the federal government. Information that the NSA was using to data-mine and look for patterns and, basically, spy on the American people.

What this rule means, is that AT&T and Bell South and Verizon, who have these government contracts — [as it's been reported in the papers ]to sell customer data to the government, they may never have to report that income or how the finances of that program worked. This is scheme that allows them to continue to deny any such activity - legally - unless of course the circumstances are challenged and overturned by the courts. I urge you all to go [here] to listen to the broadcast, or read the transcript [here] and see the documentation [here].

tags:Bush NSA Verizon AT&T domestic spying Bell South