Skip Oliva’s article today is one that everyone should read. I cannot emphasize enough the damage this piece of legislation is going to do. It will authorize DOJ lawyers and prosecutors to engage in “fishing operations” against anyone they choose, all in the name of “preserving competition.” Given the hostility that Democrats (and many Republicans, not to mention the Pat Buchanan conservatives) have shown toward Wal-Mart, we can be assured that in the near future, Wal-Mart executives are going to have their offices bugged.

Furthermore, the open-endedness of this legislation will permit various DOJ “fishing expeditions” in which an original “crime” is alleged, but soon afterwards, the wiretaps will reveal new “crimes” that can be prosecuted. This is the kind of legislation that people like John McCain, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton have always wanted. No doubt, the media will love it, since there will be an endless supply of “perp walks” with corporate executives and other business owners that will “prove” to the CounterPunch gang that everyone in business really is a crook.