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January 12, 2008
REAL ID becomes more of a reality
Were you born on or after January 1, 1964? Are you ever a passenger on commercial aircraft, or do you ever enter federal buildings?
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, announced yesterday that the schedule has been extended somewhat for the new driver license rule known as "Real ID." States are being given until 2014 2011 to provide those with birth dates in the range above with a new type of identification card; those who will be 50 and over at the time get three more years, according to NPR's Pam Fessler.
What will the Tennessee General Assembly do about this, you ask? Well, last year they passed a joint resolution (that's both houses), with wide bipartisan support, against Real ID. They therefore helped us join a number of states that oppose it.
I myself find Sec. Chertoff's comments, that anyone who is against this program is either a terrorist, an undocumented worker, or a "con man," to be disingenuous. I have read blog posts and opinion articles from persons all along the political spectrum — though civil libertarians all — decrying this move.
For some technical issues surrounding Real ID, see this Underground Politics post. I know people who work at a company that uses RFID cards for security. (I think they're the passive kind.) My assumption is that a database stores information on each entrance (internal or external) that is accessed by the card, with a date and a time. They know where one has been, and when. While its use by a private employer is practical and cost-effective, the ramifications in terms of a federal government application are alarming, to say the least.
Is there a chance that the new President (whomever he or she may be) can work with Congress next year to rethink some of this?
More:
The esteemed Joe Powell, writing at TennViews
Tennesseefree (aka Glen Dean)
Government | By joe lance | 11:12 AM
Comments
I really wish there had never been a 9/11 commission. What good did it do really, other than to create a media spectacle? Not only did they suggest a new level of bureaucracy, the Dept. of Homeland Security, currently being run by the highly incompetent Chertoff. But they also suggested a national ID.
It always takes something big to justify a power grab.
Posted by: Glen Dean at January 12, 2008 07:45 PM