In the wake of tragedy of 9-11, the American people feared terrorists would take away their freedom. The greatest threat to freedom was the voluntary surrender of freedom for the sake of government-provided “protection”. This “precautionary principle” has been used by Big Brother to say “governments should implement regulatory measures to prevent or restrict actions that raise even conjectural threats of harm to human[s].” In essence, this principle claims overprotection causes little to no harm.

Washington doesn’t have the right answers because they ask the wrong questions. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) last month demonstrated a lack of understanding of America’s constitutionally protected rights when he nonchalantly explained he is “glad” that the government was spying upon Americans. Graham explained that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. However, the American people have a lot to fear from politicians ask who defend tyranny above the right of the people.

The scope of NSA spying is broader than anyone would have ever believed and the limits on the agency are more secretive and insubstantial than anyone could have ever feared. 

The startling realization that the NSA has been spying on American citizens is often met with the excuse “I have nothing to hide, why should I worry?” and is subsequently ignored.  There are many strong arguments as to why you should care: privacy should be valued for its own sake, large bureaucratic apparatuses have proven to be untrustworthy, and sweeping domestic surveillance invites ‘Big Brother’ into our society. The strongest argument though, is to point out that now or in the future you may indeed have something to hide and not even know it.

Benjamin Franklin once said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Franklin was describing what is known as the ‘precautionary principle.’ This is a principle while good has been twisted by government in the name of safety.

The IRS, in its zeal to block the legal political activity of conservative groups, has still not come clean. The agency is out of control, and needs serious reform, and ought to be shuttered, its services provided in some other way.

Lovers of freedom know that a limited government is the only way to achieve it. Limiting our government in the modern age means also limiting how it uses our personal data.  If you want to keep a secret, don't tell anyone. The only way to be sure data is not used improperly is not to allow them to collect it.

There is much confusion about the NSA’s secret surveillance program Prism. It doesn’t record the content of all of our private phone and other digital communications. Rather, it stores so-called “metadata” about them for future reference, in perpetuity. By its own admission, the federal government is collecting massive amounts of ‘metadata’ on every single American. 

Spread the news: tax man has got a new job! Well, sort of. You’ll still see him every April for your 1040, but now he’ll also be handling your healthcare. Under Obamacare, the IRS will have 47 new powers and duties requiring thousands of new employees and billions of more dollars.

“The largest consolidation of personal data in the history of the republic.” ~ USA Today