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The federal government claimed to need broader powers in order to keep us safe from terrorists after the 9/11 attack. Conservatives used 9/11 as a reason to erode our civil liberties while Democrats were complicit and afraid of being seen as coddling terrorists. The news media was afraid of criticizing policy and being labeled Un-American. There is lots of blame to go around. Russ Feingold was the only Senator who voted against The Patriot Act. While most of our loss of civil liberties occurred during the Bush 43 administration the left and civil libertarians have been very disappointed with the president for not doing more to restore the civil liberties we had before 9/11. President Obama did sign an extension to The Patriot Act rather than veto it. That is probably what your friend was talking about.