Posted on 05/04/2002 9:54:14 AM PDT by forest
May Day brought news of a very interesting new concept that definitely should be tried on all employees of our nation's largest employer. After all, an employer has a perfect right to know what all employees are doing in the workplace at all times.
The first part of the plan is to standardize state issued driver's licenses and ID cards and to mandate that a computer chip be included to carry all sorts of personal information. This would allow more certain identification of employees and associated visitors to the workplace.
The "Driver's License Modernization Act" is sponsored by Reps. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Tom Davis (R-VA). They also want the chip to be powerful enough to accept software for other applications, such as financial records from private companies and later, medical and criminal information.
"The intent of this legislation is to correct flaws in the driver's license standard that states currently have," Rep. Moran's spokesman, Dan Drummond, told a reporter for UPI. "Right now there are inconsistent requirements between the states for initial identity verification. There's also insufficient verification of identity documents that people present when they go to get a license."
We agree. But only to the point that all of our employees throughout the country should use the exact same type of tamperproof identification. And, the more personal information the card carries, the easier it will be for the employer to insure proper identification. This identification, then, must be presented for examination by the employer at any time the employer requests to see it.
These identification cards should also be electronically readable from a distance. Because, we also propose TV cameras in all of our workplace offices and meeting rooms. This is necessary to prevent all the crime, negligence and sloth that has been reported so many thousands of times over the past few years.
Negligence, crime and corruption have gone on in these offices way too long. Only constant surveillance can bring these misdeeds down to a manageable level. So, understandably, the employer should have access to all cameras at all times.
Take, for instance, the offices on Capitol Hill. Many of these people do not even show up for work, yet they get paid. The Senate has actually passed important bills with only five or ten Senators on the floor. To make that possible, they invented what they call a "unanimous consent" rule. Which means, as long as everyone present agrees -- or at least does not protest -- the bill passes. This is not the government intended by the authors of our Constitution. Not even close!
We have all heard about the graft and corruption so prevalent on Capitol Hill. We have read often about how those thousands of lobbyists pass out millions of bucks annually to those in Congress (and their staffs) who "play ball" with them. Once the employer -- the American people -- sees that corruption in action, it would not be long until we have an honest Congress again.
It's not just Capitol Hill, though. Lobbyists also hit all of the federal regulatory agencies and even write many of the proposed regulations. Who in government gets what from the lobbyists for that cooperation?
You're their employer. You should know that.
A camera in every office and ID cards that can be scanned by the cameras would go far to keep some of the regulatory bureaucrats honest, too. We need that.
So, damn right, we're all for these fancy new ID cards. Anyone working for the government should have one. And, the video from all cameras in every government office should be broadcast on the Internet so that any citizen who wishes may look in to see what is happening. Every office in every department, every agency, every court, and even the post offices, should be included. As the employer, we have a perfect right to see who is in any workplace room at any time and to know what they are doing.
We are a free people. Therefore, We the People should not be spied on by government in any way whatsoever. According to the Fourth and Ninth Amendments, that would be illegal -- albeit, it doesn't seem like that anymore. Government workers, which are our employees, are the ones who need close watching. That would be perfectly legal. And we, as their employers, are the ones who should be doing the watching.
The technology is now available to make that possible. Let's instruct them to get it started.
These identification cards should also be electronically readable from a distance. Because, we also propose TV cameras in all of our workplace offices and meeting rooms. This is necessary to prevent all the crime, negligence and sloth that has been reported so many thousands of times over the past few years.
Negligence, crime and corruption have gone on in these offices way too long. Only constant surveillance can bring these misdeeds down to a manageable level. So, understandably, the employer should have access to all cameras at all times.
Take, for instance, the offices on Capitol Hill.
Government workers, which are our employees, are the ones who need close watching. That would be perfectly legal. And we, as their employers, are the ones who should be doing the watching.
While we're at it Senators and Congresscritters should have a LIFETIME tax rate double that of the general population, with no credits, deductions, or special allowances.
And they should be required to drop their special retirement packages and join the peons citizens on Social Security...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.