Brett Guthrie, Mitch McConnell and 3 others vote to allow Government to Fly Unmanned Spy Planes in U.S. Airspace.

Wednesday, 15th of February 2012

A bill passed last week allocating more than $63 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration would increase the existence of drones in civilian airspace across America and is expected to be signed into law by President Barack Obama. If the new bill becomes law, up to 30,000 drones could by flying in U.S. airspace by decade’s end.

Civil liberties groups have spoken out on the measure, stating the new legislation offers no restrictions on drone surveillance operations by police and federal agencies and could put us on track toward a “surveillance society.” In fact the ACLU has summed it up properly:

Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.

So, which of our fine Kentucky delegation chose to support Government sponsored use of drones over our homes. Well, 5 men who also voted to extend the Patriot Act and allow indefinite detention this session. My Senator Mitch McConnell, my congressman Brett Guthrie, also Ed Whitfield, Hal Rogers and Geoff Davis. Ben Chandler who voted to extend Patriot Act and to allow indefinite detention flipped over to vote against it like Senator Paul and Congressman Yarmuth.

What is it though that men who are sworn to protect our civil liberties this session have decided to not do it? They also do this in an election year (except for Sen. McConnell of course)? According to the Washington Times:

The provision in the legislation is the fruit of “a huge push by lawmakers and the defense sector to expand the use of drones” in American airspace, she added.

According to some estimates, the commercial drone market in the United States could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars once the FAA clears their use.

The agency projects that 30,000 drones could be in the nation’s skies by 2020.

The highest-profile use of drones by the United States has been in the CIA’s armed Predator-drone program, which targets al Qaeda terrorist leaders. But the vast majority of U.S. drone missions, even in war zones, are flown for surveillance. Some drones are as small as model aircraft, while others have the wingspan of a full-size jet.

In Afghanistan, the U.S. use of drone surveillance has grown so rapidly that it has created a glut of video material to be analyzed.

The legislation would order the FAA, before the end of the year, to expedite the process through which it authorizes the use of drones by federal, state and local police and other agencies. The FAA currently issues certificates, which can cover multiple flights by more than one aircraft in a particular area, on a case-by-case basis.

The Department of Homeland Security is the only federal agency to discuss openly its use of drones in domestic airspace.

So, this is a corporate bail out for Defense Contractors on top of a violation of civil liberties. Also, are these touted small government Republicans to have us believe that they will only use this new power for noble causes? Come on Brett. I gave you a sloppy kiss on your NDAA switch and new provision as well as your support for Hemp. Why are you sooo bad at Civil Liberties?

As the ACLU points out, they are rushing this through quick. Which has always worked to the benefit of US citizens when their government rushes legislation.