United Liberty

On Thursday, the United States Senate shot down so-called “cybersecurity” legislation in a mostly party line vote. Many Senate Democrats tried to hype up the bill as something that could prevent a worst-case scenario, but Republicans were concerned that it would put too much on businesses.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) noted that the bill was a trojan horse, explaining that “In its current form, the Cybersecurity Act does not sufficiently safeguard Internet users’ privacy and civil liberties, nor would it create the correct incentives to adequately protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber threats.” Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, also explained that all the cybersecurity legislation would have done is create a headache for business and, as Wyden noted, put privacy at risk through data sharing with the federal government:

While Ted Cruz may have won national headlines on Tuesday after beating David Dewhurst, voters in Metro Atlanta, as well as eight other regions, shot down a 1-cent tax hike — what would have been the largest in state history — for a poorly conceived transportation plan.

The tax hike was put to voters in 12 different regions around the state, each of which had its own project list formed by elected officials in a “roundtable.” Supporters of the tax hike, which included the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and several elected officials, including Gov. Nathan Deal (R) and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, managed to raise a substantial amount of money — some $8+ million — to push the plan.

Opponents waged a largely grassroots and underfunded effort to put the brakes on the tax hike. And, as noted above, the tax hike failed in nine of the 12 regions. On Tuesday evening and into yesterday, Tea Party groups, which largely led the opposition, were claiming victory for the tax hike’s defeat:

The proposal to adopt a one-cent state sales tax increase via a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) was voted down in a closely watched election by an almost 2-to-1 margin, losing 63 to 37 percent.

Atlanta Tea Party coordinator Debbie Dooley said in a statement provided to The Hill that the vote was a victory for opponents of large government.