From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

A new growth industry, domestic spying.

Hello again, I'm Mormon Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

Some 4,000 federal state and local organizations are battling terrorism far more than the number of terrorists who've been identified.

The FBI is amassing data on U.S. citizens who've never committed a crime.

Local agencies monitor anti-war groups and Tea Party meetings.

The Department of Homeland Security is spending more money than it can keep track of,

and local agencies are happy to snap it up.

Is fear breeding overreaction?

Are constitutional rights at risk?

Will the U.S. develop a coherent intelligence strategy or become a police state?

On reporter's notebook later on, what's happened to Christmas cards?

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again. I'm Armin Alney, this is to the point from federal agencies are spending tens of

billions of dollars on domestic intelligence so much it's impossible for anyone to keep track.

Is it making America safe from terrorism? Is it creating new threats to rights guaranteed by

the Constitution?

On reporter's notebook is Facebook killing the Christmas card. First, this news update, much of Europe is on edge this Christmas season, and with parcel bombs exploding today at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome, the tension is increasing.

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