Despite efforts from liberals and conservatives to gut the Patriot Act, it looks like it will actually be expanded if the Senate Intelligence Committee has its way. It aims to give the FBI broader powers to subpoena documents from financial institutions, libraries, hospitals, et al without judicial oversight! Worse, the subpoenas can be designated secret and revealing the existence of one can lead to jail time. Also worse, it will be easier for the FBI to monitor someone’s mail during a terror investigation.

I think it goes without saying that Americans have a right to expect to have the details of their financial transactions, health records, the books they read, and the mail they receive private without some serious probable cause of a crime being committed. The arguments have been made a million times already, which makes it all the more shocking that the committee would so audaciously recommend such expanded powers. Even Democrats like Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia were no help, supporting the bill in the committee while publicly calling for revisions. The committee, where the GOP is only the majority by 1, voted 11 to 4 in favor of the measure.