Block NSA funding for collecting the call records of all Americans

Re:Block NSA funding for collecting the call records of all ... by mwsherman on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @10:14AM (#6090141)

Also important: money is fungible. To block funding for a particular activity is to say that Congress appropriates money per activity. I don’t think that’s the case, but would happily be corrected.

So a law that states ‘here’s your money, but you’re not allowed to use it for x’ seems toothless in the extreme. It’s words on a page.

Keep in mind also that the NSA is close to lawless, so any room for interpretation will gut the intent. If it’s words on a page, it’s room for interpretation.

The only actual solution is to actually reduce the NSA’s budget, substantially. Is that in this bill?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Block NSA funding for collecting the call records of all ... by dllthomas on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @11:34AM (#6090644)

I don't know. If we say "Here is your money; you can't use it for X" and the next whistleblower shows that they are nonetheless using it for X means they're misappropriating government funds, and people can go to jail for that.

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Re:Block NSA funding for collecting the call records of all ... by meepmorp on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @08:19PM (#6093776)

> Also important: money is fungible.

Yes and no. Congress can specifically prevent agencies from spending money on given activities with riders on budget bills. Evading such a ban would be a bigger deal than the current story, if only because congress would have explicitly stated tha such activities may not be conducted with congressionally provided funds. Assuming word of the program got out.

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Re:Block NSA funding for collecting the call records of all ... by mpyne on Tuesday July 23, 2013 @12:12PM (#6090937)

This is already thought about. You are hardly the first one to realize that funds can be spent on things other than what they were appropriated for. Look up the Anti-Deficiency Act.

[ Parent | on HN ]