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The Senate voted Wednesday to extend for a year key provisions of the nation's counterterrorism surveillance law that are scheduled to expire at the end of the month. In agreeing to pass the bill, Senate Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections to the USA Patriot Act.

Ten dollars for a pack of cigarettes? It might soon become a reality in many stores in New York City. The cigarette tax in New York would jump $1.60 a pack under a tentative deal struck between Governor David Paterson and state government leaders.

Another FBI snitch set-up to silence "Patriot" lawyer...

WASHINGTON, DC – The Tea Party vote helped Republicans retake the House. So congressional Republicans can count on Tea Party support for their whole agenda, right? Wrong. A letter to presumptive Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urges Republican legislators to concentrate on foundational Tea Party principles--smaller government, lower taxes--and to sidestep divisive social issues like abortion and gay rights.

To Eric Holder: Stop Lying About The PATRIOT Act

From Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall: Law enforcement is using a secret interpretation of the PATRIOT Act to spy on people who aren't connected with terrorism. The FBI operates under a cloak of secrecy, so we only know about this because these two courageous senators are defying the intelligence agencies and speaking out. Here's the New York Times:

"Actually in our investigation at the moment, we have got the information that we found 69 Patriot missiles on the ship and around 160 tonnes of explosives,"

Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.

The guns package was negotiated privately by the governor and legislative leaders over the last several weeks, but was only completed late Monday; rank-and-file Senators had only a few minutes to read the legislation before voting on it. Mr. Cuomo, saying, “If there is an issue that fits the definition of necessity, I believe it’s gun violence,” waived the normal three-day waiting period between introduction of new legislation and a vote.

The House on Tuesday failed to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are key to the nation's post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leadership that miscalculated the level of opposition.