Title: What Does the PATRIOT Act Allow the Government to Do? – The UltraViolet Newspaper
Headings: What Does the PATRIOT Act Allow the Government to Do?
What Does the PATRIOT Act Allow the Government to Do?
Content: Foreign Language Instructor Eric Reinholtz believes the PATRIOT to be a “social contract” in which Americans surrender certain social freedoms to be protected by the government. President Obama and former President Bush have shown support for and endorsed the Act separately, even as representatives of different political parties. “ [President] Obama and [former President] Bush have both been accused of infringing on human rights, but they both understand it is necessary to maintain surveillance and to intrude, to a certain extent, in the privacy of our citizens. I feel safe to fly, so I am willing to make that trade-off,” Reinholtz said. History and Social Sciences Instructor Michael Rindge agrees that it is legitimate for the government to investigate and pursue persons wanting to harm the U.S. and its people but finds the lack of transparency to be the most disconcerting component of the Act. “The problem [with the Act] shown through the NSA leaks shows a real lack of accountability for who is responsible for what. The Act needs to be teased out and explained to the American people more,” Rindge said. Obama’s input on the twelve-year debate regarding the ethically ambiguous sections encourages Americans to understand the PATRIOT’s main goal is a safe and terrorist-free America, not to infringe on citizens’ rights and privacy. He spoke six years ago at the Senate hearing for the USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization and stated, “Either we protect our people from terror, or we protect our most cherished principles. But that is a false choice.