There is a national identification card coming to your wallet.

NoSnitches.com ^

[Anonymous379]

And the wallet of every other American who wants to fly on an airliner or visit certain federally-controlled facilities in the future.

President Bush signed the The Real ID Act of 2005 into law in May 2005, mandating that all states meet minimum standards within three years.

Legislators enacted the standards for a national ID after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and over concern about illegal immigrants crossing U.S. borders.

But in the 12 months since Bush signed the act into law, there has been a lot of confusion surrounding the national ID card.

What is known is that getting the card won't be as easy as getting an old driver's license.

Social Security numbers will have to be verified with the Social Security Administration, and getting the card will require a "photo identity document" as well as other documents to verify birth date and address, Burton said.

The new card, whatever form it takes, will include a biometric measure, possibly a fingerprint or retinal scan.

There is speculation that Americans will be required to use the card in order to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments or take advantage of nearly all government services.

Every bit of information needed to steal your identity will be held in a massive government database accessible by thousands of government employees, from local police officers to state DMV workers to federal aviation officials to larcenous bureaucrats in Mexico. Welcome to America just two years from now, if the REAL ID Act is implemented.

The REAL ID Act is Washington's way of creating a national ID card. Proponents won't call it that, but that is exactly what it is. It would turn everyone's driver's license into an all-purpose identity card with enough personal data electronically packed in to replicate a person on paper.

Anyone with the proper scanner could access this information. It could be picked up electronically by corrupt government clerks and bureaucrats, but also by retail stores, which could then sell it. Identity thieves would have a field day. Steal a scanner, hook up with a pickpocket, and you've got instant access not only to a person's name, address and physical description, but also Social Security number and birth certificate information.

Had REAL ID simply mandated that states not issue drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants and people who could not prove who they were, that would have been fine. But this law — passed as a rider to a defense appropriations bill, by the way — goes much further than trying to make sure foreign terrorists don't get ID cards. It creates a highly vulnerable, massive government database of citizens' most sensitive personal information.

[Slings and Arrows]

IBTZ!

[Tzimisce]

....wonderful....

[rock_lobsta]

I smell ozone...

[Aliska]

This is not news, and I'm more than annoyed at the way they sneaked that one through Congress and then Bush signed it. It is my understanding that it was a rider on a bill to fund the Iraq war. I don't want one. Some difficult, if not impossible, choices may lie ahead.

[Springman]

I get to be IBTZ!!!

[Publius6961]

IB4TZ?

[SandRat]

Already have one; it's called a Retired US military ID Card.

[Publius6961]

What a great idea!
Does this mean they will start checking legal residency?

Eligibility to vote?
What?

[Publius6961]

If this post was intended to make me freak out, it's not working...

[Slings and Arrows]

Hmmm, signed up yesterday...

Link goes to a blank page...

Let's see what the Terminator Kitten thinks:

[Slings and Arrows]

Oh, my mistake - the link goes to a blog, which didn't load the first time I clicked, no doubt because it's on a second-rate server. To make it up, here's another graphic:

[Aliska]

For the night owls, Jayna Davis is on Coast to Coast AM now.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Does this mean they will start checking legal residency? Eligibility to vote?

Don't be silly. They'll only be checking it when you post to Free Republic.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Yeah. Looks like Rohrbacher is engineering another WHITE-wash.

[Dallas59]

I would be for it. The gov can get info on me from 20 gazillion places anyway.

[ThomasPaine2000]

So do I, DD Form 2(Retired}

[SandRat]

I even have a CAC Card.

[Springman]

Midnight Truckers Radio Network was just talking about some cell phone service using GPS to track a kids, if they aren't where they are suppose to be.

[Aliska]

I'm sorry, but I've been running on info overload. Who is Rohrbacher? I'm kind of mad at myself but I'm reading and not paying sufficient attention. Doug from Upland would be very interested.