Today's Washington Post contains a shocking (and breathtakingly thorough) investigative piece, worth reading in its entirety, which reveals how the FBI has been using its surveillance powers—greatly expanded under the USA PATRIOT Act—even more aggressively than we feared:

The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters—one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people—are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.

Last Friday night, the Senate unexpectedly and unanimously passed a bill renewing the parts of the USA PATRIOT Act set to expire at the end of the year. The House already passed a similar bill on July 21st, so the only step left is a conference for the House and Senate to resolve any differences. The President is then expected to sign the bill into law on September 11, 2005.

Here's where you come in. With PATRIOT renewal now a certainty, the priority is to make sure the final bill looks more like the Senate than the House version -- that is, to ensure that it contains as many checks and balances to protect your privacy and civil liberties as possible.