A federal judge has ruled that at least one provision of the USA Patriot Act is unconstitutional. A U.S. District Judge in California ruled that the U.S. Patriot Act’s ban on providing "expert advice or assistance" to foreign terrorist groups is unconstitutionally vague, in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments. This is the first federal court decision finding any portion of the Patriot Act illegal. The judge’s decision did not include a nationwide injunction on the provision as sought by the plaintiffs.

The myriad of numbers in the recent proposed federal budget included a surprising change in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)—an increase of funds to investigate whistleblower claims.

It is no secret that, after contributing to the deficit by huge tax cuts, a primary focus of this Administration now is decreasing the deficit by cutting spending, while continuing to reduce revenue by way of tax cuts. This will require massive cuts and eliminations of programs and services. It augurs a historically significant rollback in federal spending that if unchecked will fulfill conservative promises to reduce government to the barest of minimums.

There is considerable confusion about the debate on Internet taxes. One issue is whether items sold over the Internet should be taxed. Another issue is whether there should be a tax on access to the Internet; similar to the tax we pay for use of telephones. This second issue – charges a user pays to an Internet Service Provider to connect to the Internet, as well as taxes that would discriminatorily apply only to Internet technology and use – is now being debated in Congress.