The PATRIOT Act is set to expire in just FOUR WEEKS, but Congress is trying to rush through a last minute extension — and we need to fight back now!

Since it was passed almost a decade ago, some of the most noxious portions of the PATRIOT Act have burrowed their way deep into our legal system — and last week Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) introduced legislation to extend them.

Will you click here, and urge your elected officials to let the PATRIOT Act expire?

Together, these provisions make a mockery of our civil liberties:  They let government officials spy on whomever they want, for any reason, without ever letting them know or giving them a chance to challenge the order in court.

Enough is enough: Will you join us in demanding that Congress finally let these provisions expire?

Just click here and we’ll send a message to your senator, representative, and President Obama.

Thanks for taking a stand.

– The Demand Progress team

P.S. Please consider forwarding this message on to your friends, so we can make sure lawmakers hear from as many people as possible over the next four weeks.

The bill starts with so-called “roving wiretaps” that allow the government to spy on a nebulous array of individuals and devices, without specifying any of them ahead of time. The FBI could, with a single search warrant, raid every house or office that an individual suspect has visited over an entire year — every single place, whether or not the residents themselves are suspects.

Then there’s the eerily-named “lone wolf” provision, which lets the government apply the full power of the special courts created to deal with foreign spies against anyone who the government alleges is “preparing to attack.” You don’t even have to commit a crime to get these super-powered courts targeting you — the Justice Department says that just visiting a flagged website would be enough!

But worst of all is the infamous “Section 215″. This incredible provision allows the government to take whatever they want — your phone records, medical records, email history, whatever — without having to show you’re suspected of a crime, or even relevant to an investigation! But it gets worse — not only can the government just search through your personal records whenever they feel like it, but everyone involved is under a gag order to never let you know that you’re being spied on — and to ensure that you can never challenge the order in court. The government could be looking through your emails right now and you’ll never even know.

Stop the police state, repeal the PATRIOT Act (Rep. Ron Paul)

The year 2011 brings in a host of opportunities and challenges to America. Will we accelerate toward economic insolvency by continuing the policies that have created this crisis, or will a new Congress elected on the energy of the Tea Party movement find the courage to change course?

With the new Republican majority in the House I will have the opportunity as a subcommittee chairman to take a careful look at our domestic monetary policy. I’m excited by the prospect of real oversight of the Federal Reserve, but I also hope to focus on the important ways in which our foreign policy and monetary policy are related. Just last week the Financial Times reported that the limited oversight of the Federal Reserve allowed by the passage of a watered-down version of my Audit the Fed bill revealed that approximately 55 percent of the loans made available under the largest Federal Reserve bailout program – termed “auction facility” – went to foreign banks. This is just but one example of the real cost to Americans of maintaining its empire overseas and it cries out for more transparency and oversight. This is why it is key for us to understand that our foreign policy and current economic crisis go hand in hand. Some have promised to lead us back to fiscal responsibility while asserting that any reduction in our foreign and military spending is off the table. They would like us to believe that we should not only continue spending as much on the military as the rest of the world combined, but they actually call for an even more aggressive U.S. policy abroad. They believe we should continue to bomb Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere, that we must impose even more crippling sanctions on countries like Iran while moving steadily on to yet another Middle East war that is not in our interest. They represent the failed policies of the past and they would like to lead us down a dead-end street. We must resist the temptation of their neocon-inspired scaremongering.

There will be much work for us to do in the next year and in the next Congress. We need look no further than the grossly unconstitutional and immoral policies of the Transportation Security Administration, demanding that we either be irradiated or fondled to travel in our own country, to see that those who would deprive us of our civil liberties on the empty promise of full security will not be given up easily. We must continue standing up to them and we must not compromise.

We must not allow the out-of-control Department of Homeland Security to impose an East-German like police state in the U.S. where neighbors are encouraged by Big Brother or Big Sister to inform on their neighbors. We must not accept that government authorities should hector us via television screens as we go about our private lives like we are living in Orwell’s 1984.

I’m optimistic that the incoming members of Congress understand the importance of what they have been entrusted with by the American people. But I do hope that those who elected them will watch their actions and their votes in Congress carefully. An early indication will be the upcoming vote on re-authorization of the anti-American PATRIOT Act. Defeating once-and-for-all this police state legislation will be a great way to start 2011 and the 112th Congress.

We must move ahead with confidence. Our numbers are growing.

By Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)

The Hill