Gideon MacLeish Gideon MacLeish

Fight the "REAL ID" Act

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Fight the "REAL ID" Act

from JoeUser Forums

The following press release is from the Libertarian Party website (www.lp.org):

All Americans Must Denounce the Real ID Act

Libertarian Party Calls on the U.S. Senate to Remove H.R. 418 RFS from the Appropriations Bill


 

America is hours away from implementing universal measures of identification for every citizen of this nation.  Today, the U.S. Senate will be voting on the Real ID Act (H.R. 418 RFS) which has been quietly slipped into an $82 billion dollar appropriations bill for "defense, the global war on terror and tsunami relief."

 

The purpose of the Real ID Act is to, "To establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence."

 

The act will remove a state's ability to set standards and qualifications for driver's licenses and I.D. cards.  Instead, the federal government will establish their own universal standards that will result in a national I.D. card for citizens.

 

Additionally, the Real ID Act calls for implementation of the program with "common machine-readable technology" which could lead to widespread abuse, identity theft and massive privacy concerns.

 

Libertarian Party Executive Director Joe Seehusen stated, "The Real ID Act was snuck onto the Senate floor without debate.  If passed, it will not only create a national I.D. system, but a national citizen database for use and abuse by our federal bureaucracy.  While both republicans and democrats talk of freedom and democracy, their vote for this bill will put our great nation in league with the authoritarian regimes of the past."

 

There is still time to take action against this act; you may contact your Senator directly by clicking here.

politics
9,244 views 35 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think the objection people have here is over the symbol a national ID presents. We already have this, like Baker said it's the SS#. Our drivers license does much the same job a national ID would, but there rules and protections governing who gets them is uneven across the US.

This is something that could have been accomplished (and was actually on its way to happening) as more and more states worked to tie together drivers license databases. Eventually the magnetic strip format would have been fully standardized and through the actions of the individual states we'd essentially have a National ID. Is this any better or worse than a federally mandated one? It was happening anyway.

If you think for a minute you aren't tracked in everything you do, you're wrong. Even cash transactions leave a trail that can be followed. Credit cards, bank accounts, social security number etc... I don't see this as an additional infringement, since these rights and issues of privacy were decided long long ago and are so ingrained into the system that they can't be removed.
Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top

We already have this, like Baker said it's the SS#

For one thing, the ss# isn't required to cash a check. For another thing, I don't agree with it either.

Baker,

I stated a few possible scenarios on the other blog. Feel free to go there and call them paranoid delusions.

I take it you're pro gun control, eh?

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Reply #28 from JoeUser Forums Top
No, I'm not pro-gun control, Gid. I am a card-carrying memeber of the NRA, and my father is a lifetime member.

Maybe my lack of outrage over drivers license laws puzzles you, but I never thought you to be a knee-jerk paranoid who brands anyone who disagrees with you a fascist, either. Dunno what's going on with you, but this all-or-nothing idea of liberty makes me a bit queasy.

Why not ask me if I am one of those pinko commie homosexuals next? Is your neighbor bitching about your chickens again? No need to take it out on the rest of us...
Reply #29 from JoeUser Forums Top
I mean my God, Gid, you wanna evoke the NRA on me when you are marching with the ACLU? I had no idea that you had come to believe in their definition of "Liberty", i.e. agree with us or be labeled a fascist. How petty.
Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top

you wanna evoke the NRA on me when you are marching with the ACLU?

I'm marching with the LIBERTARIAN PARTY, thank you very much.

And if you believe EVERY case the ACLU has argued is wrong, you obviously are misinformed about the ACLU (although the majority of their prominent cases ARE wrong, but I digress).

Well, fair's fair. You want to force national ID on the rest of us, get ready to register the guns that aren't already registered. It's only part of the national progression.

Reply #31 from JoeUser Forums Top
Be a paranoid idiot if you want. This isn't even a national ID card. Even the ACLU admits it is only a small step toward what one day might end UP being a national ID.

I never said I wanted to force ANYTHING on you, and honestly your complete detatchment from the reality of the conversation makes me doubt your mental stability.

I hope you just got pissy and called me a fascist because you couldn't prove your point. Otherwise you are a very paranoid individual, thinking that I am somehow forcing something on you...
Reply #32 from JoeUser Forums Top

Dunno what's going on with you, but this all-or-nothing idea of liberty makes me a bit queasy.

Baker,

What's going on with me is that passage of this bill WILL affect my freedom directly. For the same reason I can't speak about certain personal issues here without sacrificing the safety of my family, I can't elaborate why.

I could tell you some VERY SPECIFIC ways that it could infringe on freedoms...but would stand to pay a TERRIBLE cost for doing so...and I'm not exaggerating here.

I apologize for the "fascist" comment, but I do see a double standard in fighting against the registration of guns, while standing in defense of this atrocious act. Both are wrong, in my view.

Reply #33 from JoeUser Forums Top
Be a xxxxxxxx xxxxx if you want. This isn't even a national ID card. Even the ACLU admits it is only a small step toward what one day might end UP being a national ID.


Hey Gid, Bakers right on this and your more than a little off base. This is NOT a national ID card! It's a set of standards they want the "states" to use when issuing the state ID's/lic.
The ID's will still be issued by the STATES, NOT the federal government.
Reply #34 from JoeUser Forums Top

drmiler,

If the legislation is so benign, why did they have to sneak it into an appropriations bill? Something to think about here.

I really don't think I'm off base here, I don't see this as the "end all" to all freedom, but a continuation down a slippery slope we never should have started on.

Reply #35 from JoeUser Forums Top

For the record, if you are from certain states that have lesser requirements than Nevada's, they require social security card, birth certificate, and the other state's driver's license. Texas is similarly strict, but also requires proof of insurance to get your license. Guess which states have HUGE illegal immigrant problems? Yup, Texas and Nevada are high on the list.

The trafficking in illegal immigrants is done by people who possess the ability to forge these documents or purchase these forged documents. They have no trouble in providing "legal" documents for illegals. The Real ID standard will do NOTHING to change this.