Bill Prompts New National ID Card Fears

Story dated 09 February 2005

"Congress is considering legislation that conservatives and libertarians warn will create a national ID card system, calling it a backdoor attempt to remove privacy protections gained in a law passed only last year. . . The Real ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418), introduced Jan. 26 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), would eliminate existing privacy protections and give the secretary of Homeland Security expanded powers to control states' driver's licenses and ID cards, and the data collected while issuing them." Well, that's great. Something tells me that a lot of this information collected will fall into the 'none of your business' category. I do agree that there ought to be some sort of national standard for drivers' licenses, I do not think that there should be a nationalized database on U.S. nationals. Quite frankly, the government has given me no reason to think that they will use my information in a responsible manner. If I were to murder someone, steal from people, or otherwise harm anyone, that's one thing -- that's 'need to know information that it would make sense to have a national database for. However, I do not do those things, so I would like to respectfully ask the government to mind its own business. Sadly, I fear that people like me who actually believe in the Bill of Rights may one day very soon find ourselves on an FBI list of know 'dissidents' or some such thing.

What's even more disturbing is that the law will "mandate participation in a network of identification databases open to some foreign officials. [emphasis added]" Excuse me? Any lawmaker who thinks that is a good idea should be recalled for failure to defend the people of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. "Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter to House members Wednesday entitled "What will you tell your constituents?" Paul shared his belief that the Real ID Act could "make terrorism and illegal immigration more likely." "What is to stop a corrupt foreign official from selling or giving the most sensitive information about your constituents - their name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, and other identifying characteristics - to Mexican drug lords, to terrorist cells that most experts believe are operating in Mexico and possibly Canada, to terrorist organizations overseas, to human traffickers who will use their identities to create even more convincing fraudulent documents?" Paul asked (emphasis in original). "Nothing will stop them.""

Ron Paul is right. By the way, now is as good a time as any to say this, Ron Paul is the only politician that I trust. Well, I trusted Zell Miller, too, but he's retired. Does anyone know what it would take to get Ron Paul on the Republican ticket for president in 2008? I would love to work on his campaign. As you may or may not know, Mr. Paul ran for president on the Libertarian party ticket in the 1980s. He is currently a Republican and a member of the Republican Party Liberty Caucus -- you know, the Republicans that actually care about you and me? How about this ticket: Ron Paul for President, Zell Miller for Vice President? I know a lot of you are enamored with Dr. Rice, but Miller would be a much better choice if we could get him. How about instead of a Republican or Democrat ticket, we have an American ticket for a change. American values are life, liberty, and a respect for property rights. Both major parties have forgotten this in their so-called 'mainstream' platforms. So how about it? Paul and Miller in '08? Please?
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posted by The Sovereign Editor | 7:53 PM

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