Regardless of what one might think of the rest of the bill, this alone should be enough to oppose it in my opinion.
As much as we dont like it, it is GOING to happen. computers run everything, and computers need a unique identifier for their database tables.
Just like your phone book- it is sorted alphabetically by name, but the PHONE NUMBER is unique- no matter how many 'Jim Smith's there are each has his own number.
This is no different.
And yes I am fully aware of the 'mark of the beast'
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a national ID bill last week that masqueraded as “immigration reform.” The bill does nothing to address immigration policy, however, nor does it propose deporting a single illegal alien already in our country. It does nothing to address the porous border between the U.S. and Mexico, which is the fundamental problem. In reality, the bill is a Trojan horse. It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to con a credulous Congress into sacrificing more of our constitutionally protected liberty.
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This is a sham. Just like the impotence and silence we receive from our government on REAL IMMIGRATION FIXES. Nothing. I took exception with someone the other day that posted "our government is our worst enemy"...maybe I should not have been so hasty.
In total agreeance.
"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan
"You have zero privacy anyway," "Get over it." - Scott McNealy, CEO Sun Microsystems
ping!
You got it!
That said, Paul is either insane or spinning like a top.
The "national ID card" is not a national ID card, and calling it that is every bit as disingenuous as Kate Michelman caling pro-lifers an "anti-choice extremists." The bill would set forth standards for state IDs so that forgery would be easier to detect. Saying this ammounts to "papers, please" (as Paul did on the floor of the House recently) is as silly as objecting to the Uniform Commercial Code because it is a "national business law system."
If he wants to make sure there's no biometric data on them, that's fine, though it seems pretty silly to me to believe that an ID that's harder to fake will somehow ruin privacy. But let's not pretend that making it harder to fake IDs is going to make us less safe, and let's sure not kill a bill cutting off licenses for illegals because someday someone might put a retina scan on a license.
Let's also remember that this is the same Ron Paul who believes the answer to judicial activism is to gut the judicial branch to the point that it can't protect any rights, either. Just because someone's anti-government doesn't mean they're thinking straight, it just means they've grasped the obvious in their political thought.
Anyone know who sponsored this bill. If Ron Paul's description is accurate, this is pretty scary stuff.
Why MEXICO? Are they getting the same cards as us? Why is Bush in love with them???
Interestingly, if my understanding is correct, Section 102, the portion of the bill dealing with the waiver of laws necessary for improvement of barriers at borders, would seem to give the Secretary of Homeland Security exceedingly broad powers (with respect to constructing certain roads and barriers, including taking of property by the government without compensation) that are not subject to review by any court. Is my understanding correct? Doesn't the Constitution prevent such a thing? Has the Federal Government attempted to exempt the actions of the Executive or other branch of government from judicial review in other bills? Isn't that an unconstitutional encroachment?
Ping.
Bad idea! Repercussions are endless. Reminds a person of the unfolding of Revelations.
self-ping
Why don't they just tatoo our forehead with our SS# in barcode and be done with it?
Hey jmc. Hope all's well.
Once again Rep. Paul nails the issue, and we sit here wondering how far Sensenbrenner Jr. is going to push with his now apparent lust for control. Control of states' databases, control over states' ability to control driving priviledges, control over the citizens' ability to work in the future when this morph's into a requirement for employment, a child support database, gun registration and more. I've worked for a company that builds and maintains massive databases, the swipe cards of the future will hold megabytes of info on each individual. It's a disturbing possible future ahead.