Members of Congress are beginning to talk about national ID cards again, in the wake of a GAO undercover operation in which agents were able to obtain government-issue identification such as driver's licences using falsified identification as the basis of the filing -- and were able to do so with an astonishing 100% success rate (story here.)
I am not much of one for government-issued ID myself. I have not had a drivers licence or passport in years, preferring to use fakes or avail myself of routes that do not require ID. As I am not out doing any harm to anyone, nor have it done me, it is ludicrous and somewhat offensive to me that anyone else considers it his business just who I am, where I am from, how much weigh, etc.
What I cannot understand about the Congress' (and the public's) tendency to keep bringing this back up, is that ID is easy to fake whether it is issued by the state or federal government. Even if a national ID card was a good idea (and it is a hideous idea) this would make the job of identity counterfeiters, identity thieves, and people like myself all the easier, because one single standard for the whole gloriously large and diverse country means substantial savings in templates, research, sample acquisition, and all of the other costs inherent to the false identification industry.
Since my ten-year-old understands this, shouldn't U.S. Senators?
Robert Grassley (Rep.-IA) doesn't.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
“As far as drivers license issuing is concerned we’re no more safe from terrorists than we were before September the 11th ... the findings showed me that there isn’t a state in the nation geared up to being concerned about fake IDs before giving a drivers license.”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Max Baucus (Dem.-MT) doesn't.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
“I think most surprising, is that ... people are pretty casual at department of motor vehicles. I expected after 9-11 that people would be a little more vigilant and understand that drivers licenses are pretty important.”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Add to this the facts that increasingly-uniform standards in government and commercial identitification are fueling an apalling identity theft epidemic in this country, and that many terrorists have been nabbed with genuine ID's and not fakes, and it is hard to imagine what productive result the federal government thinks that it can wrangle from such a foolish idea s a national identification card.
Phaedrus
I am not much of one for government-issued ID myself. I have not had a drivers licence or passport in years, preferring to use fakes or avail myself of routes that do not require ID. As I am not out doing any harm to anyone, nor have it done me, it is ludicrous and somewhat offensive to me that anyone else considers it his business just who I am, where I am from, how much weigh, etc.
What I cannot understand about the Congress' (and the public's) tendency to keep bringing this back up, is that ID is easy to fake whether it is issued by the state or federal government. Even if a national ID card was a good idea (and it is a hideous idea) this would make the job of identity counterfeiters, identity thieves, and people like myself all the easier, because one single standard for the whole gloriously large and diverse country means substantial savings in templates, research, sample acquisition, and all of the other costs inherent to the false identification industry.
Since my ten-year-old understands this, shouldn't U.S. Senators?
Robert Grassley (Rep.-IA) doesn't.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
“As far as drivers license issuing is concerned we’re no more safe from terrorists than we were before September the 11th ... the findings showed me that there isn’t a state in the nation geared up to being concerned about fake IDs before giving a drivers license.”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Max Baucus (Dem.-MT) doesn't.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
“I think most surprising, is that ... people are pretty casual at department of motor vehicles. I expected after 9-11 that people would be a little more vigilant and understand that drivers licenses are pretty important.”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Add to this the facts that increasingly-uniform standards in government and commercial identitification are fueling an apalling identity theft epidemic in this country, and that many terrorists have been nabbed with genuine ID's and not fakes, and it is hard to imagine what productive result the federal government thinks that it can wrangle from such a foolish idea s a national identification card.
Phaedrus
