Could result and Mary Landrieu taking over the Energy Committee in the senate. That would set up a game of musical chairs. A likely is seen as successor to mr. Baucus as head of the finance committee. And Mary Landrieu could then take mr. Wydens spot. She comes from a state where oil and Gas Companies are asian employers. She voted for the keystone Xl Pipeline Oil and gas employers. Re major she voted for the keystone xl pipeline in a symbolic decision. President obama does not want to make a decision on the massive keystone xl pipeline. Not have to. He may House Democrats and other critics of the project, which has put traditional allies such as labor unions and vists arental acti hinting that the state might have to restart its environmental review. Ed bywould be motivat suspected conflicts of interests and could push a decision down the road for another few years, possibly until mr. Obama leaves office in 2017. That is the story in the Washington Times. Here is usa today, many cannot afford coverage, law lets them opt out of Health System that needs them. More than half of the counties in 34 states using the federal exchange like a plan that is affordable for 40 year old couples who make too much for financial assistance. Do not offer an affordable plan for people 50 and older buying individual plans and just missed qualifying for subsidies. Based on the governments definition of affordability, these people would not have to buy insurance under the Affordable Care act. A couple more stories before we get to our question and our conversation that we will kick off this morning. Here is the wall street journal, egypt rants brotherhood egypt brands brotherhood a terror group. Saying it was a response to a bombing officials blamed on the group. The once powerful brotherhood denied involvement in the apparent suicide car bombing early tuesday that targeted a Police Headquarters in the city of mansoura. The New York Times, iraqsends armed aid to fight with extremists. The u. S. Is quietly sending missiles and drones to help forces combat violence by an Al Qaeda Backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western iraq and neighboring syria. Helpfollows an appeal for in battling the Extremist Group the iraqi Prime Minister who met with obama in washington last month. Some experts questioned whether the response will be sufficient to reverse the sharp downturn in security that led to the death of more than 8000 iraqis this year. Were Security Force members. The highest level of violence since 2008. I want to show you this story from the washington post. 1984, worse than in snowden tells britain. Edward snowden invoked George Orwell and warned of it dangers of unchecked government surveillance in a christmas message to the british people. Speaking directly into the camera from moscow, where he has taken refuge after leaking information on nsa spying, snowden said government surveillance methods far surpass those described in orwells novel 1984. The types of collection in the book are nothing compared to what we have available today. Video marked snowdens First Television appearance since he fled the u. S. And arrived in moscow in june. Publishedngton post an account of his comments. Here he is on wednesday. [video clip] createdovernments have a system of worldwide mass surveillance. Great britains George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. In theypes of collection book microphones and video cameras, tvs, are nothing compared to what we have available. We have sensors in our pockets that tracked us everywhere. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They will never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves. An unrecorded thought. That is a problem because privacy matters. Privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be. The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place, both in the technology around us and the government that regulates it. We can find a better balance and end mass surveillance. And remind the government that if it wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying. Host that is a part of what we want to talk to you about this morning in the first section of washington journal. Question isn the u. S. Becoming a police state . 202 is the area code. For republicans, 202 5853881. For democrats, 202 5853880. For independents, 202 5853882. If you live outside the u. S. , 202 5855883. You can make a comment via social media. Handle. Is our twitter you can go on facebook where a conversation is already going on, facebook. Com cspan. Or send us an email. Angle is partwden of what we want to talk about. There are other aspects to this. Frisk, localp and Police Departments, etc. You can include these as well. This article appeared in mother jones on december 9. Chase matter. Is a hammer,ve got everything starts to look like a nail. If police and prosecutors are your only tool, everyone will be treated as criminals. This path involves social involves solving social problems by throwing cops at them. Encroaches on everyday life as police power is applied in ways that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The military station the militarization of the police has the war to a point that on crimes and the war on drugs are no longer metaphors. Heavily armed swat teams in small towns, shock and awe tactics to bust bookies. Recover trace amounts of drugs that result in the killing of family dogs or family members. In communities where jet treatment programs where drug treatment programs were key, a counterinsurgency war. This is reported in the book the rise of the warrior cop. More thanves farther your local precinct. It is the way police power has entered the dna of social policy. Turning every sphere of American Life into a police matter. It starts in our schools, where discipline is increasingly outsourced to police personnel. Ago lot what not long would have been seen as misbehavior doodling on a can leave a kid in handcuffs or even booked at a local precinct. Such criminals can be as young as sevenyearold wilson, a new under who was handcuffed suspicion of stealing five dollars from a classmate. It turned out he did not do it. It is a national phenomenon. Mississippi leads the way in turning School Behavior into a police issue. That is a little bit from the beginning of his article. We will go through a little bit more as we go this morning. We want to hear from you, whether or not you think the u. S. Is becoming a police state. We will begin with a democrat in pennsylvania, patrick. Caller how are you . Husband fine. Caller not only is the host hfine. U. S. R not only is the becoming a police state, the acquisition of bullets and Armored Vehicles by homeland security. It is the modern version of the gestapo. The American People are looking form of totalitarianism that is compartmentalized. That is corporatized. In order to make it blameless to say that one arm does not know what the other arm is doing. And yet, the concentration camps are being built at the American People are going to be placed in choreograph yet another false flag operation on this country. I can tell you that the es the game and end with the state of israel. Host that is patrick in pennsylvania. We are talking about the police state in america. William, alabama, independent line. Caller yes, we are in a police state. I live in alabama. Next to the gulf of mexico. We are the only county in the statehis year, one of our senators passed a law that no one in the county its eligible is eligible to run for sheriff. That you haveates to be the sheriff or the sheriffs deputy. Currentlyot to be eligible to run for sheriff. You can run for senator or congressman, but we are living in a dictatorship already. Law inomeone changes the montgomery, alabama. Host mississippi, republican line. Hi, bubba. Caller how are you doing . I think we are becoming a police state. The way the government is now, we are becoming a communist state, too. No president , no government is going to tell me that i have got to buy insurance through them. And if i do not, i get penalized, fined, or whatever. Obama he and just dont care. Know. Puts i dont two things that is going on, like the nsa spy and. Spying. Host thank you for calling. Senator ron wyden talks about this issue in july at the center for american progress. [video clip] tom a win 3000 of our fellow citizens were murdered by terrorists ourr 9 11, when 3000 of fellow citizens were murdered by terrorists. At a time of panic, Congress Gave the government surveillance authority. They attached an Expiration Date to these authorities so that they could be deliberated more efully once the emergency the immediate emergency had passed. Yet, in the decades since, the law has been extended several discussionno public about how the law has actually been interpreted. The result the creation of an always expanding, on the present onmipresent surveillance state that is chipping away at the freedoms our Founding Fathers established. It is all done without the benefit of actually making us safer. Quinnipiacis a quick h university poll, is the government restricting Civil Liberties . Yes. Ay yes. F independents say here is part of the conversation on our facebook page. Is can take part in a poll, the u. S. A police state . You can see the yess are more. Here are some comments. Yes, especially for blacks and browns. Daniel says if you think the u. S. Is a police state, you have not been outside north america. Comments. Ore know your rights. No, unless you are paranoid or a criminal. Patrick says it is not getting better. We are no north korea, but the level of surveillance and laws are not steps in the right direction. Says, ispower, mike not an isolated incident. Those are some of the comments. If you want to continue that conversation, facebook. Com cspan. A democrat going from chicago. Caller hi. I am concerned about the intrusive the creation of intrusive databases on children k12 grades. There is one that is funded by bill gates, developed by rupert murdoch, and managed by jeff company. It can collect as many as 400 different data points on a child. It will include information on their mental and physical health issues,discipline social issues like divorce or homelessness. As well as academic issues including test results and k12. G has exploded in it is not the only database like this, nine states signed up and seven have dropped out. New york still seems to be involved. The person i read on these she is andrey waters, excellent analyst of the development. Host thank you for sharing that information. West virginia, republican line. Is the u. S. Becoming a police state . Caller in a way it is. When the administration used the irs to silence the tea party, that is getting pretty scary. Even senators like Chuck Schumer and some of those senators over there wrote a letter to the irs demanding that they silence the tea party before the election. That is pretty scary. That is my opinion. Host daniel, vancouver, washington. You are on the washington journal. Caller yes, we are becoming a police state. Lets take a walk backwards to see how this happened. 9 11 was the trigger that set us on this path. 9 11 it is interesting that thetor wyden was discussing fact that there has been no intossion of public input the state of affairs that we are faced with today. Happened because israel host what does this have to do with israel . Caller we were attacked by israel on 9 11. Truther,iel is a 9 11 that is not what we are talking about. Back to the article, do we live in a police state . The term was once brushed off as a hyperbole. Even inuch anymore, precincts, the intrusion is remarked upon. You are probably a criminal is the title of a widely read article. A republican thatntee, surveys the laws make virtually every american a target. Entirel bookn written about how an american could commit three felonies in a day without knowing it. As one law professor has argued, habits arey penal being exported. The growth of domestic powers is the result of our distant foreign wars seeping back into the homeland. The imperial boomerang that Hannah Ahrendt warned against. Guardianom the earlier this fall. Americas Police Looking more and more like the military. Americas streets are looking more and more like a war zone. In a small county in upstate new york with a correlation of 120 thousand people with a 0,000 people, 12 aunty legislators approved vehicle donated by the Defense Department to the county sheriff. The tween the armored personnel tween the armored personnel carriers that mimic , thes in afghanistan militarization of our domestic policing will make over america. Happened. W it a Pentagon Program has been highly militarizing American Police forces for years. Ofotal of 4. 2 billion worth equipment has been distributed by the Defense Department to Municipal Law Enforcement agencies with a record 546 million in 2012 alone. That is just the beginning of this article from the guardian. Alex on our republican line from miami. Caller good morning. As far as the police state issue, it is only for the citizens of this country. As far as immigrants in miami it is 59 of the population they get to roam free. When i tell them how it works, they are in total shock. Yes, it is a police state. Only for u. S. Citizens. As far as immigrants are concerned, they get to go wherever they want. I have been challenged by police and they let the immigrant go away freely. It is not pretty at all. That is my take on it. Host that is alex. Diane is in georgia, democrat. Caller yes. The answer to your question about is it becoming a police state no. I think we need all of the surveillance that we can get. Going back to 9 11, that is what kicked it off. We have people who are here that are living crazy. If they are listening into a conversation, i am not a criminal, i dont care. Other than watching me on my tv, i would probably have some opposition to that. Other than that, i am perfect with it. Aowden, we are talking about topic that he is introducing. If there is so much surveillance, how did they miss him . All thisup with information. If we have such high tech observations, how did he go under the radar . If he was going to do such a good job, why is he not here . , tell want to let us know us here. Host thank you for calling in. Ins is Walter Pincus caller the washington post. He has been covering intelligence for 40 years or so. Rule tocedented consider Public Opinion on intelligence gathering. The prime reason for secrecy is that you do not want the targets to know what you are doing. Notn in democracies, you do what youre citizens to know what your government is doing on their behalf to keep them secure, as long as it is within law. Accountability and secrecy are two watchwords an official said ided operations during his career, not whether the public would approve. That is not what obamas review group said last week after its study of intelligence gathering in the wake of disclosures generated high former nsa contractor Edward Snowdens of nsa documents. The president s panel called for reinstituting the front page precept. D informal it said such activity should not be undertaken if the public could not support them if exposed. And some 40 years of covering intelligence, Walter Pincus writes, i have never heard of such a rule. Nor have several intelligence officials with whom i have talked. The closest we recall is the role of plausible deniability, out of the cia in the 1950s when president eisenhower backtracked in having knowledge. This allowed a president to deny knowledge of intelligence operation that went bad to say he knew nothing about it. Leaving those carrying out the activity to take the blame for failure or exposure. That and the washington post. Maryland, independent line. You are on the washington journal. Caller i believe this country is becoming a police state. You are kind of like a prime example of that, sir. I noticed while listening that thatike to cut callers off have an opinion about why it is becoming a police state when it comes to the issue of 9 11 and israel. You give them half a second on 9 11, no time if they mention israel. It is a shame. Terrorism is a business, folks. That is just the way it is. It is a never ending war. A lot of companies are making money off of terrorism, especially the Defense Department. It is a lifestyle for the rich and famous. Some die with a name, some die nameless. Maryland. Is tony in this is lynn in maryland on our republican line. Caller i do believe we live in a police state. I was shopping on Christmas Eve night. I dont know if people know this, they actually had a man drones in the air that track your movement. That is one aspect. They are not only they are collecting data, emails and phone calls. They are reading your email and listening to your phone calls in realtime. This is really getting completely crazy. They are actually spying on people. Several hours i just had a virus in my computer. It is really crazy, the government and Congress Host you saw a drone . Caller oh, yeah. Caller in maryland host in maryland . Caller i am a member of the stop spying group. If you look at the website about innes, they have them maryland. Most people do not look in the air. If you look in the air