The People\’s Republic of Maryland has long been known for their left-leaning ways and now that our first Republican Governor has been replaced by Marty, we will probably moved even a little more to the left.
A simple measure like verifying legal status is somehow seen as an affront and racist by the Commie Martyrs in our Legislature, so no doubt they will fail to implement the mandate again. The only \”Man Date\” Maryland will likely approve is allowing Gays to marry.
Legislation is pending in Washington State that would prohibit the state Department of Licensing from implementing RealID until the state receives funding from the federal government, and until the system has sufficient privacy protections to prevent it from being a magnet for identity theft.
Also legislation in Washington to allow a two-tier licensing system, so that drivers have the choice of paying for a normal license or a RealID-compliant one.
Personally, I\’d get a standard license since the RealID license would duplicate the ID verification a passport already provides. No benefit to me or to anyone else in going through all of that twice.
If you want to know I\’m legal to drive, ask for my driver\’s license. If you want to know my citizenship, ask for my passport.
And that doesn\’t even address the states that don\’t make legal status a condition for getting a license. Assuming nobody is really going to deport tens of millions of illegal immigrants, wouldn\’t you rather they could get licensed and be able to buy insurance?
thank God Maryland has the courage of its convictions to stand up to another one of Bush and the conservatives non-funded mandates. It makes me laugh – the GOP always preaches being the party of less government involvment. But this administration is the most intrusive on state rights in history. 718 days to go.
Why do you blame this on Bush? Congress passed this law with bipartisan support. But I guess if you schmucks can blame Bush for Katrina you can blame him for this law.
Something else, genius – if this federal law was going to be funded by federal revenues, where do you think that money somes from – a giant money tree somewhere? The states would have to pay for it one way or another, whether it was an unfunded mandate or not. Do you spend as much time whining about other undunded mandates like Medicare and Medicaid, or are these two commie programs too dear to the black heart of the Democrat Party to draw your ire?
It is more efficient to allow the states to raise their own funds to be spent locally than to pass them through Washington, where admin costs would be skimmed off the top. So the STATES retain their RIGHTS to raise and administer this program.
Several points in support of Maryland come to mind:
Maryland would have to raise taxes to pay for a complete overall of its drivers\’ license process.
Shouldn\’t education and health take priority?
If the Federal Government wants a Federal ID, then I will happily support a requirement that we all obtain passports and carry them with us at all times.
If someone is on Maryland\’s roads driving a car, I would like for them to have passed at least the minimum requirements for a driver\’s license and I would like them to have insurance. If changing the licensing procedure would mean more uninsured and untrained drivers on the road, then I certainly don\’t support it.
I suggest you google \”The Real ID Act\” and read for yourself what the Federal Gov\’t. wants your local DMV office to do. It\’s not just prove who you are, but they have to have at least 2 or 3 forms of identification, image and store these documents electronically and be able to verify electronically that these documents are valid. Funny thing is… to validate the social security card or birth certificate with the issuing entity someone has to build that interface and most of your local county seats or city halls don\’t have birth records electronically. Multiply this by 50 DMV\’s with 50 different systems, then multiply by every city and county and then factor in the social security administration and you got a big, expensive to resolve, mess.
I thankfully have a passport! Better get yours.
What good will this invasion of privacy do? As one of the 300 million foreign visitors that come to the US each year, a terrorist who enters legally as did the 9-11 terrorists will easily board a plane by showing the passport from their country of origin and, in most states, can legally drive for 30 days using their foreign license.
Also, two things the article does not mention:
Every license will be digitally encoded with all the information the government has on you. I am talking about not only your license number but other information such as your address and phone number. There is a dispute as to how dangerous this feature will be. The Feds say the license will have to be within a few inches of a card reader while others say it will be easy to get the equipment needed to scan from farther away. If the opponents are correct, that guy behind you in the line at the store may have just captured everything he needs to apply for credit in your name. In any event, if a story needs id (and I bet lots will want to see ID even with a credit card just to cut down on fraud) you will need to watch the clerk to make sure it isn’t scanned for identity theft. Actually, there is nothing in the federal law to prevent a store from reading the information encrypted on the license as a normal course of business and retaining this information in it’s computers.
All the information will be available on a national database and available not only to MV Departments but also police and others. That sounds great but think about some clerk at a DMV office a thousand miles away having access to everything needed for id theft. Or what about a clerk in a police department with access to the PD’s computer? You think ever PD in small towns with a few cops is going to hire a computer security consultant to prevent unauthorized access?
This is a feel good measure that does nothing to protect us and leaves us open to invasions of privacy. The House in NH last year voted to reject the Real ID Act but the State Senate killed the bill. Hopefully things will be better this year.
As far as I am concerned we need to do something. If someone is considered an illegal alien why should they have the same rights as a tax paying citizen of this country. This plan may not be the right one, but I still am not able to grasp why this concept is so invasive. The information we must provide it not that big a deal…
Bob and Scott are absoluetly right! Who are you out thee that supports this crap? Left leaning, guilty white idiot commies and people with the nemaes Jose and Maria. Get the hell out of here!
[quote]Something else, genius – if this federal law was going to be funded by federal revenues, where do you think that money somes from – a giant money tree somewhere? The states would have to pay for it one way or another, whether it was an unfunded mandate or not.[/quote]
Unfunded mandates are a way for Congress to take credit for getting things done without taking any responsibility for the cost of their decisions. Congress would never pass RealID as a *funded* mandate, because they know the money isn\’t there, it will require tax increases. So instead they can try to force the states to pay for it, making state Legislatures take the heat for raising taxes or cutting basic services.
By mandating a national database, with nationally-available certified copies of birth records, SSNs, and other required identification, RealID is a de-facto *national* identity card, not a state driver\’s license.
Why should the cost of my uninsured motorist coverage go up because some cheapskate in D.C. wants to make my local license clerk responsible for clearly Federal responsibilities?
The DMV can\’t deport people, it can\’t detain them, it can only prevent them from getting licensed and insured, then let them walk back out the door.
If you want immigration enforcement, split INS back out of the DHS bureaucracy and give it adequate funding from Congress. Don\’t try to shift its job onto licensing clerks.
This isn\’t about terrorism or illegal immigration! It\’s about a national ID card! It\’s about big brother, a police sate, and creeping fascism. Wake up.
Wow! Scott\’s really not too bright. I am FIRMLY opposed to the flood of illegal immigrants in the U.S. I am also aware that Real ID will do NOTHING to stop it.
In several states illegal aliens are not issued drivers licenses. They ride bicycles. Maybe Scott needs to RETHINK this.
They don\’t have to raise taxes, they can borrow money. If the states want an end to unfunded mandates they can sue the federal government in a constitutional challenge to the whole concept. Think that\’ll happen?
I doubt the states would have standing to sue, since most unfunded mandates are written as a carrot-and-stick, not a direct mandate. They don\’t directly order the state to do something, that would violate federalist principles. They offer the states money to do something (e.g. interstate highway funds for tougher DUI laws).
Or, in the case of RealID, they define what a state has to do if it wants its driver\’s licenses to function as national ID cards. A state that chooses not to comply can still license its drivers, but those licenses won\’t be valid as national identity cards for boarding planes, entering federal buildings, etc.
Note also that Utah is *already* running two-tiered licensing systems that allow illegals to get licensed and insured. (OOOH those hippie liberal Mormons are at it again!)
So is Tennessee, another hotbed of left-coast liberalism.
Maine has passed legislation refusing to comply and requesting that Congress repeal the law.
The Peoples Republic of Montana is on the list, too, with legislation pending refusing to comply. Georgia, too.
And Massachusetts, but of course you\’d expect that from the Tea Party State.
This lack of funding argument is silly. It may apply to the RealID Act but that doesn\’t change the fact that ILLEGAL aliens should not be allowed to obtain a drivers license. They are breaking the law, our law. NO LICENSES FOR ILLEGALS. GET IT! Can\’t fund it, here\’s what you do: MVA employee \”Sir, do you have ID\”, applicant \”No\”. MVA employee \”come back when you have two valid forms of ID please\”. This is not rocket science folks. Dollars spent, zero. NO LICENSES FOR ILLEGALS! All I\’m willing to offer is a free ticket home and stern words for the lawmakers that allow this to happen. I\’m all for legal immigration, hell open the floodgates. But I can\’t support ILLEGAL immigrants.
What do illegal aliens have to do with this? I don\’t care if there is a two tier system or if illegals simply don\’t get a license. I, if I want to use something besides my passport, will need the national id with all it\’s potential for theft id if I want to get on a plane or go in a federal courthouse.That is what counts to me. The fact that I may be forced to get what I would call the \”1984 Big Brother\” driver ID. That and the fact that no one has shown that this idea would have prevented 9-11.
Like it or not, illegals are here, until Congress decides to either deport them or legalize them. Those are the facts on the ground that states have to deal with. States have no authority over visa status, immigration, or deportation.
Some states will throw up their hands and say \”Sorry, citizens, we know they\’re here, we know they\’re driving, but as a matter of principal we don\’t want to keep track of them, test their driving skills, or allow them to be insured when they hit you.\”
Other states have said, \”We know they\’re here, we know they\’re driving, so, for the protection of our citizens, until the federal government starts taking its immigration responsibilities seriously, we\’d better have a way of tracking them, testing their driving skills, and letting them get insurance.\”
IF you eat food, live in a house or wear clothes then you are supporting illegal immigrants. If you can not see this simple fact then you are a fool with blinders.
WOW!!! The government slips up and doesn’t do their job and we all have to pay for this massive inconvenience….oh that by the way the gov’t isn’t going to PAY FOR!! If you had of taken Osama seriously WE WOULDN’T BE TALKING ABOUT A REAL DANG ID!!
The People\’s Republic of Maryland has long been known for their left-leaning ways and now that our first Republican Governor has been replaced by Marty, we will probably moved even a little more to the left.
A simple measure like verifying legal status is somehow seen as an affront and racist by the Commie Martyrs in our Legislature, so no doubt they will fail to implement the mandate again. The only \”Man Date\” Maryland will likely approve is allowing Gays to marry.
We\’ll see.
Sorry, I didn\’t mean first Republican Governor, I meant recent Republican Governor.
Legislation is pending in Washington State that would prohibit the state Department of Licensing from implementing RealID until the state receives funding from the federal government, and until the system has sufficient privacy protections to prevent it from being a magnet for identity theft.
Also legislation in Washington to allow a two-tier licensing system, so that drivers have the choice of paying for a normal license or a RealID-compliant one.
Personally, I\’d get a standard license since the RealID license would duplicate the ID verification a passport already provides. No benefit to me or to anyone else in going through all of that twice.
If you want to know I\’m legal to drive, ask for my driver\’s license. If you want to know my citizenship, ask for my passport.
And that doesn\’t even address the states that don\’t make legal status a condition for getting a license. Assuming nobody is really going to deport tens of millions of illegal immigrants, wouldn\’t you rather they could get licensed and be able to buy insurance?
\”…immigrant advocates claim the measure punishes people seeking a better life.\”
Translated into English: \”…people trying to help illegal aliens skirt the law complain that this makes their lives more difficult.\”
They should just make people who look and talk funny get this special license.
thank God Maryland has the courage of its convictions to stand up to another one of Bush and the conservatives non-funded mandates. It makes me laugh – the GOP always preaches being the party of less government involvment. But this administration is the most intrusive on state rights in history. 718 days to go.
non-funded mandate?
How does providing proof of who one is qualifiy as a non-funded mandate?
Why do you blame this on Bush? Congress passed this law with bipartisan support. But I guess if you schmucks can blame Bush for Katrina you can blame him for this law.
Something else, genius – if this federal law was going to be funded by federal revenues, where do you think that money somes from – a giant money tree somewhere? The states would have to pay for it one way or another, whether it was an unfunded mandate or not. Do you spend as much time whining about other undunded mandates like Medicare and Medicaid, or are these two commie programs too dear to the black heart of the Democrat Party to draw your ire?
It is more efficient to allow the states to raise their own funds to be spent locally than to pass them through Washington, where admin costs would be skimmed off the top. So the STATES retain their RIGHTS to raise and administer this program.
An illegal alien can obtain a legal drivers license? Anybody know were I can legally purchase illegal drugs? This is such a no brainer it hurts.
Several points in support of Maryland come to mind:
Maryland would have to raise taxes to pay for a complete overall of its drivers\’ license process.
Shouldn\’t education and health take priority?
If the Federal Government wants a Federal ID, then I will happily support a requirement that we all obtain passports and carry them with us at all times.
If someone is on Maryland\’s roads driving a car, I would like for them to have passed at least the minimum requirements for a driver\’s license and I would like them to have insurance. If changing the licensing procedure would mean more uninsured and untrained drivers on the road, then I certainly don\’t support it.
I suggest you google \”The Real ID Act\” and read for yourself what the Federal Gov\’t. wants your local DMV office to do. It\’s not just prove who you are, but they have to have at least 2 or 3 forms of identification, image and store these documents electronically and be able to verify electronically that these documents are valid. Funny thing is… to validate the social security card or birth certificate with the issuing entity someone has to build that interface and most of your local county seats or city halls don\’t have birth records electronically. Multiply this by 50 DMV\’s with 50 different systems, then multiply by every city and county and then factor in the social security administration and you got a big, expensive to resolve, mess.
I thankfully have a passport! Better get yours.
What good will this invasion of privacy do? As one of the 300 million foreign visitors that come to the US each year, a terrorist who enters legally as did the 9-11 terrorists will easily board a plane by showing the passport from their country of origin and, in most states, can legally drive for 30 days using their foreign license.
Also, two things the article does not mention:
Every license will be digitally encoded with all the information the government has on you. I am talking about not only your license number but other information such as your address and phone number. There is a dispute as to how dangerous this feature will be. The Feds say the license will have to be within a few inches of a card reader while others say it will be easy to get the equipment needed to scan from farther away. If the opponents are correct, that guy behind you in the line at the store may have just captured everything he needs to apply for credit in your name. In any event, if a story needs id (and I bet lots will want to see ID even with a credit card just to cut down on fraud) you will need to watch the clerk to make sure it isn’t scanned for identity theft. Actually, there is nothing in the federal law to prevent a store from reading the information encrypted on the license as a normal course of business and retaining this information in it’s computers.
All the information will be available on a national database and available not only to MV Departments but also police and others. That sounds great but think about some clerk at a DMV office a thousand miles away having access to everything needed for id theft. Or what about a clerk in a police department with access to the PD’s computer? You think ever PD in small towns with a few cops is going to hire a computer security consultant to prevent unauthorized access?
This is a feel good measure that does nothing to protect us and leaves us open to invasions of privacy. The House in NH last year voted to reject the Real ID Act but the State Senate killed the bill. Hopefully things will be better this year.
For info see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ID_Act
As far as I am concerned we need to do something. If someone is considered an illegal alien why should they have the same rights as a tax paying citizen of this country. This plan may not be the right one, but I still am not able to grasp why this concept is so invasive. The information we must provide it not that big a deal…
Bob and Scott are absoluetly right! Who are you out thee that supports this crap? Left leaning, guilty white idiot commies and people with the nemaes Jose and Maria. Get the hell out of here!
Mercy, I dread that this will lead to bondage.
[quote]Something else, genius – if this federal law was going to be funded by federal revenues, where do you think that money somes from – a giant money tree somewhere? The states would have to pay for it one way or another, whether it was an unfunded mandate or not.[/quote]
Unfunded mandates are a way for Congress to take credit for getting things done without taking any responsibility for the cost of their decisions. Congress would never pass RealID as a *funded* mandate, because they know the money isn\’t there, it will require tax increases. So instead they can try to force the states to pay for it, making state Legislatures take the heat for raising taxes or cutting basic services.
By mandating a national database, with nationally-available certified copies of birth records, SSNs, and other required identification, RealID is a de-facto *national* identity card, not a state driver\’s license.
Why should the cost of my uninsured motorist coverage go up because some cheapskate in D.C. wants to make my local license clerk responsible for clearly Federal responsibilities?
The DMV can\’t deport people, it can\’t detain them, it can only prevent them from getting licensed and insured, then let them walk back out the door.
If you want immigration enforcement, split INS back out of the DHS bureaucracy and give it adequate funding from Congress. Don\’t try to shift its job onto licensing clerks.
Check out: http://www.realnightmare.org
This isn\’t about terrorism or illegal immigration! It\’s about a national ID card! It\’s about big brother, a police sate, and creeping fascism. Wake up.
Wow! Scott\’s really not too bright. I am FIRMLY opposed to the flood of illegal immigrants in the U.S. I am also aware that Real ID will do NOTHING to stop it.
In several states illegal aliens are not issued drivers licenses. They ride bicycles. Maybe Scott needs to RETHINK this.
http://www.realnightmare.org
They don\’t have to raise taxes, they can borrow money. If the states want an end to unfunded mandates they can sue the federal government in a constitutional challenge to the whole concept. Think that\’ll happen?
I doubt the states would have standing to sue, since most unfunded mandates are written as a carrot-and-stick, not a direct mandate. They don\’t directly order the state to do something, that would violate federalist principles. They offer the states money to do something (e.g. interstate highway funds for tougher DUI laws).
Or, in the case of RealID, they define what a state has to do if it wants its driver\’s licenses to function as national ID cards. A state that chooses not to comply can still license its drivers, but those licenses won\’t be valid as national identity cards for boarding planes, entering federal buildings, etc.
Note also that Utah is *already* running two-tiered licensing systems that allow illegals to get licensed and insured. (OOOH those hippie liberal Mormons are at it again!)
So is Tennessee, another hotbed of left-coast liberalism.
Maine has passed legislation refusing to comply and requesting that Congress repeal the law.
The Peoples Republic of Montana is on the list, too, with legislation pending refusing to comply. Georgia, too.
And Massachusetts, but of course you\’d expect that from the Tea Party State.
This lack of funding argument is silly. It may apply to the RealID Act but that doesn\’t change the fact that ILLEGAL aliens should not be allowed to obtain a drivers license. They are breaking the law, our law. NO LICENSES FOR ILLEGALS. GET IT! Can\’t fund it, here\’s what you do: MVA employee \”Sir, do you have ID\”, applicant \”No\”. MVA employee \”come back when you have two valid forms of ID please\”. This is not rocket science folks. Dollars spent, zero. NO LICENSES FOR ILLEGALS! All I\’m willing to offer is a free ticket home and stern words for the lawmakers that allow this to happen. I\’m all for legal immigration, hell open the floodgates. But I can\’t support ILLEGAL immigrants.
What do illegal aliens have to do with this? I don\’t care if there is a two tier system or if illegals simply don\’t get a license. I, if I want to use something besides my passport, will need the national id with all it\’s potential for theft id if I want to get on a plane or go in a federal courthouse.That is what counts to me. The fact that I may be forced to get what I would call the \”1984 Big Brother\” driver ID. That and the fact that no one has shown that this idea would have prevented 9-11.
Like it or not, illegals are here, until Congress decides to either deport them or legalize them. Those are the facts on the ground that states have to deal with. States have no authority over visa status, immigration, or deportation.
Some states will throw up their hands and say \”Sorry, citizens, we know they\’re here, we know they\’re driving, but as a matter of principal we don\’t want to keep track of them, test their driving skills, or allow them to be insured when they hit you.\”
Other states have said, \”We know they\’re here, we know they\’re driving, so, for the protection of our citizens, until the federal government starts taking its immigration responsibilities seriously, we\’d better have a way of tracking them, testing their driving skills, and letting them get insurance.\”
IF you eat food, live in a house or wear clothes then you are supporting illegal immigrants. If you can not see this simple fact then you are a fool with blinders.
Absolutely ridiculous commentary. If a child molester works at the ShopRight, am I supporting child molesters by shopping there? Please.
Ignorance is truly bliss so let me live with my blinders on.
WOW!!! The government slips up and doesn’t do their job and we all have to pay for this massive inconvenience….oh that by the way the gov’t isn’t going to PAY FOR!! If you had of taken Osama seriously WE WOULDN’T BE TALKING ABOUT A REAL DANG ID!!