States slapping denial on REAL ID Act
Back in 2005 Congress quietly passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005. Quite a mouthful there. But the real meat comes in Division B entitled “REAL ID Act of 2005.”
The REAL ID Act establishes federal standards for all state-issued drivers license cards. Each card will be issued a national identification number and contain “common machine-readable technology.” According to author and activist Katherine Albrecht these machine-readable technologies, commonly known as RFID chips can be used as tracking devices. While I’m not much for these “Big Brother is watching” conspiracy theories Ron Paul seems to pump out (Yes, he is associated with battling this one.), the law very clearly states what is to be implemented.
Albrecht seemed to be very concerned about the future of these RFID chips. She describes a situational in which the RFID chip could be implanted in a car and readers would be placed along highways. These readers could then automatically detect speeders and mail them a ticket. That type of totalitarian approach scares me into thinking that maybe this country really is approaching socialism.
The REAL ID Act first gained fame in a documentary by the late-Aaron Russo, a longtime filmmaker. Russo’s film, Freedom to Fascism, is one of those ultra-liberal conspiracy theory films. Nevertheless, it makes great points with regard to the REAL ID Act pointing out the socialistic values that are finding their ways into American society.
Proponents of the bill are championing the ability of states to share driver’s license data. While I can see the need for efficient system, the people have spoken (in the form of state legislation). States are sending the message that the REAL ID Act goes to far.
The deadline currently sits on December 31, 2009, but the adoption will not come peacefully. A total of seventeen states have rejected the act. A list that carries the likes of Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.
Privacy concerns are chief among the rejection, but the costs associated with implementation. The Department of Homeland Security estimates the cost at $23 billion while Congress has only appropriated $40 million to the states to date. Now, how are states supposed to take in that burden without sacrificing other services?
The House Democrats united to push the compliance date backwards, but the states are clearly sending a message that the bill needs to be taken off the table.
2:44 pm on December 31st, 2007
I don’t understand why the government hasn’t looked into finding an efficient and effective way to analysis DNA, instead of assigning a random number to everyone. That way, the government would know you for who you are, not the order from which you came. I think this would appeal to the “theorists” more that the RFIDs.
5:01 pm on January 1st, 2008
What they are doing is not SOCIALISM – it is FASCISM.
The United States Government is now in the leading top 3 countries for fascist control of it’s people in the area of surveillance – along with Russia and China.
Don’t worry about the DNA – they have some other measures that will curl your hair when you figure them out.
While you are wondering why they just don’t use DNA – the rest of the country is wondering how the heck we beat the fascism in our government.
The right question is: Why do these people think they have the right to track every damned move we make?