[Libloather]

Having to obtain a $97 passport would, however, stall tourism and commerce...

And obtaining a national ID card wouldn't? Some folks just don't think things through...

[sittnick]

I actually find the passport LESS invasive than the driver's license. The Passport does not have my address on it. It doesn't tell anybody whether I drive or not. It is good for ten years. It is not cross-linked the ways drivers' licenses are. It does indicate citizenship, which a driver's license does not.

They should reduce the fee for the Passport.

The problem with that is on the Canadian side. THEIR passports expire in five years, and if you need a new birth certificate, to renew, the wait for the birth certificate can be five months! In Ontario, all birth certs are processed in Ottawa. Mine was obtained in the city of my birth in Connecticut in five minutes by a nice lady behind a counter with a selectric, stamp and photocopier.

[MNJohnnie]

Typical of the Left. Don't deal with the problem instead invent a whole new system to oppress the LAW abiding. These people are just too stupid to be trusted with power.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and residents across the state are urging the government to find a more practical, less expensive option than passports...a national ID card with a photo could be an alternative in this circumstance and would be more useful in everyday life."

That's all you need to know. Well, at least until some jackbooted moron from McHomeland Security demands to know 'vere are your papers?'

[varyouga]

A common argument from pro-illegal clowns is that we are racist for letting Canadians in and not Mexicans.

This is just another scheme by the left to make everyone suffer because one minority feels bad. The facts don't matter. Only what FEELS good.

[xcamel]

Agenda:

No passport, more illegals.
More illegals, more bankrupt hospitals,
More bankrupt hospitals bigger push to socialized health care.

Viola! Hillary Care

[thinking]

I have some experience with border crossing...so here is my observation....the problem is, under the present regulations, one presents the identification at the border, and crosses into the US or Canada, never to be heard from again...should one elect to over-stay their verbal visa, there is no means to locate that person....

By having computer readable passports, a log of the entry is made, and now, there is a record, of folks that over-stay their visas....

[MineralMan]

I have a valid passport. I have had a valid passport since I turned 18.

Whether it is required or not, I always take my passport anytime I leave the country. To Canada. To Mexico. Anywhere that is not the USA.

$97? So what?

[steve-b]

An upgraded driver's license or a national ID card with a photo could be an alternative in this circumstance and would be more useful in everyday life.

Identity documents shouldn't be useful in "everyday life" -- they should be reserved for special occasions (voting, border crossing) where the government has a legitimate need to require proof of identity.

An ID Brick the size of a paperback book would be acceptable (as a national ID card would not) precisely because the former resists "mission creep" by design -- most people would have to specifically remember to bring it on the few occasions where the authorities could properly demand to see it, and thus the authorities would find it impossible to make such demands on other occasions.