Free Republic

The information on your driver’s license is a gold mine and Pennsylvania is cashing in. The NBC10 Investigators found the state has earned more than $157 million since 2010 selling driver records. An NBC10 analysis of the more than 32,000 private companies and government agencies to which PennDOT sold driver information, traced it to every state in the country. The companies include credit agencies, insurance companies and car dealerships. The information PennDOT sold includes names, addresses, and driving histories.

Judith Benitez had gone most of her adult life without knowing how to drive. The 35-year-old woman from Mexico who is in the U.S. illegally would ask family members for rides to pick up her children from school. Trips to the grocery store or the doctor's office were complicated. That changed last year when Assembly Bill 60 was implemented, granting people in the country illegally the right to obtain driver's licenses in California. "Truthfully, it was an extremely emotional time because having a [driver's] license isn't just any little thing," she said. "We feel a little more protected."

The federal government has denied a request from the state's political leaders for more time to get compliant with the new Real ID requirement,but it won't immediately imperil the ability of Minnesotans to board commercial flights after Jan. 1.In a letter sent Monday,two assistant secretaries at the Department of Homeland Security wrote to Gov. Mark Dayton that "Minnesota has not provided adequate justification for continued noncompliance with the Real ID standards that would warrant granting your request for extension,"the letter stated.That means Minnesota driver's licenses are officially not sufficient identification for the general public to be allowed on U.S. military...

Think you only need a passport to board an international flight? In 2016, some fliers better have one to fly domestic, which means they had better be paying their taxes. It now looks as though your passport could be cancelled if you owe the IRS. The Real ID Act created a national standard for state-issued IDs. It hits air travel in 2016. Some states initially refused to comply, fearing that the feds would make a national database of citizens. Others cited high administrative costs and a 50% increase in fees for drivers. Most states are OK, but millions in Louisiana,...

For as long as there has been a free press, there has been some form of “news of the weird.” It may be a humorous feature during a radio or TV newscast, or a throwaway corner to fill space in a newspaper… the funny-but-true story has always had a place in journalism. With the advent of social media and internet websites, where publishers no longer have to pay for each column inch or count every second of broadcast time, the place for silly news has grown. And there’s nothing wrong with that… as long as it keeps its proper place....

Come 2016, your state driver’s license may not be enough to get you on a commercial flight. On Oct. 10, the Department of Homeland Security began enforcing the last phase of the Real ID Act, which establishes minimum security standards for states and United States territories when issuing identification, primarily driver’s licenses; and prohibits certain government facilities and — most relevant to travelers — the Transportation Security Administration from accepting them as proof of identification if they were issued by a noncompliant state. But don’t fret just yet. Initially, enforcement is limited to those entering federal and military facilities and...

Two nuclear research labs would require visitors to show passports or other forms of identification if New Mexico does not comply with tougher U.S. regulations for driver’s licenses, creating uncertainty in a state that grants IDs to immigrants regardless of their legal status. Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation’s premier nuclear weapons lab, said late Wednesday that visitors would need U.S. passports for entry if the state does not start mandating proof of legal U.S. residency for driver’s license applicants, a requirement under the federal REAL ID Act. Sandia Labs also said they would need an alternative government-issued form of...

California’s Governor had a busy weekend, breaking out his pen and signing nearly two dozen bills into law. Most of them centered on the voting process in the Golden State, but while liberals are taking a victory lap there are hints that these maneuvers are going to signal trouble down the line. The big ticket item in the legislative package was the “New Motor Voter Law.” This brainstorm will make voter registration automatic for any person receiving a new driver’s license or renewing an existing one. Targeting California’s recent record-low voter turnout, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure...

If you don’t have a passport already, you may need to get one soon. Residents of certain states are going to need to show their passports — rather than simply their IDs — even if they’re only flying domestic. Yes, it will infringe upon states’ rights handed to them by the 10th Amendment and create unnecessary cost to taxpayers in order to implement the change, but let’s be real — the government doesn’t care about that. From Zero Hedge: To comply with the 2005 Real ID Act, which the U.S. government has been slowly implementing for the past decade, citizens in a...

If you listen closely you can almost hear a collective sigh of relief from 16 year olds across the state.The reason – the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration officially removed parallel parking as a required test element on the driver’s license test on a statewide basis starting today.According to Buel Young, spokesperson for the MVA, the administration determined that completing a two-point turn and backing up are similar enough to parallel parking to eliminate the parking element from the test.“The MVA consistently evaluates its assessments of both the knowledge and skills tests. In analyzing the skills test, it was determined that...

A Texas judge explains that the president’s action on immigration is an attempt to create law from scratch. When Texas filed a constitutional challenge to President Obama’s executive action on immigration, his supporters scoffed and ridiculed the suit as lacking any merit. First, they argued, states are not injured by the federal policy. Second, they contended that Congress had already given the president the discretion to halt the deportation of millions. Finally, they predicted that the courts would stay out of this important policy debate. The Justice Department’s brief rebuked the suit, alleging that the claims “are based on rhetoric,...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois residents might not be able to use their driver's licenses at airports starting in 2016. The Daily Herald reports the licenses don't meet requirements set by the 2005 Real ID Act that were meant to increase security. Illinois doesn't require a birth certificate to get a driver's license, which Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt said is one of the law's mandates. Haupt said state legislators would have to approve funding for changes to driver's license requirements. He said he's not sure how much it would cost, but the Secretary of State's office previously estimated...

The state of Georgia is issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. After years of explaining this fact to astonished Georgians all over the state, I have still not grown accustomed to the shock and outrage they so vocally express. “But Georgia is governed by Republicans! – what is this, California?” is the most common reply that is printable here. They seem to become even angrier when someone correctly points out that illegal aliens cannot obtain a driver’s license in Mexico. For those readers who are wondering – no, this bewildering assault on our driver’s license integrity is not a result...

Jan 10th 2015 at 11:01AM Russia bans transgender people from getting driver's licenses Chris Bruce The Russian government has reportedly decided that it can make the country's roads safer by keeping people with what it considers "disorders" from getting driver's licenses. According to the International Business Times, under the new guidelines, people who are homosexual or transgender will not be allowed to to get a license. The list also includes things like fetishism, voyeurism and exhibitionism as grounds for not getting behind the wheel, notes the BBC News. The ban, which the government says has been devised to curb the...

While Al Jazeera was asking me if I knew the names of terrorists that had crossed the border, we are ominously reminded that it only takes one In an attempt to desensitize America’s opinion regarding illegal immigration, and in a move that adds ammunition to the argument that illegal aliens live among us and work beside us, California has become the latest of a number of States that have made effective laws granting driver’s licenses to people that reside in California, but entered the United States without going through the legal processes. Other States that grant driver’s licenses to illegal...

Welcome to 2015, with the usual hopes for new beginnings and fresh starts. Along with that, there is the expected flood of new laws going into effect all across the nation as proof of the various legislative bodies getting the work of the people done. The people of California in particular will see the fruits of their elected officials’ labors if they show up at the DMV. (As if the lines weren’t long enough already.) Millions of illegal immigrants will now be able to show up without fear of arrest or deportation and get themselves a shiny new driver’s...

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is training some 900 new employees and opening four new license processing centers to deal with the expected onslaught of undocumented immigrants who will be eligible for a driver’s license this new year. Starting Friday, under a new law requiring the California DMV to provide illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, the state DMV is bracing for the newly eligible applicants.

MILFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - Connecticut said on Wednesday that it will provide special driver's licenses for illegal immigrants starting next week to help stop them from driving the state's roads unregistered and uninsured. The move comes days after President Barack Obama issued an executive order protecting millions of undocumented immigrants across the country from deportation, which state officials said could boost participation in their drivers' license program. "There are many undocumented immigrants driving without a driver's license who aren’t insured or registered, and we believe making that possible is very important," said Mike Lawlor, Connecticut's undersecretary for criminal justice policy...

Little noticed after the midterm vote, which saw the GOP take control of the Senate and increase their majority in the House, was a referendum in sky blue Oregon to repeal the law that granted illegal immigrants the right to obtain a driver’s license.Even though the Democrats increased their majority in the state legislature and a Democratic governor was reelected, the measure for repeal passed by a 2-1 margin.This is a stark warning to President Obama and the Democrats that if he acts alone to amnesty 5 million illegals, his march to irrelevancy will be complete, and the party...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The fate of a little-noticed ballot measure in strongly Democratic Oregon serves as a warning to President Barack Obama and his party about the political perils of immigration policy. Even as Oregon voters were legalizing recreational marijuana and expanding Democratic majorities in state government, they decided by a margin of 66-34 to cancel a new state law that would have provided driver's licenses to people who are in the United States illegally. Obama is considering acting on his own, as early as this week, to possibly shield from deportation up to 5 million immigrants now living...