Tuesday
Jim Babka, President of DownsizeDC has more to report today:
The Senate is supposed to vote on REAL ID Act this afternoon. "Roll Call" reports yesterday that governors are protesting the creation of a national identification system. Plus, we know of other organizations that are now rallying their forces. We're not alone in this fight.It's traditional for the Senate to vote unanimously in favor of Conference Committee Reports - to rubber stamp them. As a result of all the voices they're hearing, I'm not so sure that's how this is going to play out. Let's keep up the pressure all the way to the finish line.
The REAL ID Act could signal the end of real privacy in America, as this article suggests.
And I told you yesterday about my experience on an Omaha, Neb. radio show. Well the host might not have gotten it, but his local paper certainly did! Did our interview influence the following editorial? {Registration required} Who knows? But it's well worth reading to get a clear understanding of this issue. And when you share our campaign with your friends, encourage them to read this article for a clear explanation.
Send another message to the Senate right now, asking them to vote down the appropriations bill containing the REAL ID Act. Tell the Senate to send the appropriations bill back to the Conference Committee to remove the REAL ID Act. Send your message by Clicking here
Thanks for the link. I have sent a letter to my senators through their site. (I have also called my senators.)
In addition to all the other objections, the fact that the federal government will require the states to assume the huge costs of complying is the last straw.
Posted by JS at May 10, 2005 05:50 PM
I'd be glad to use their electronic message, but it keeps giving me an error code and can't figure out my district.
Posted by Winzeler at May 10, 2005 08:34 PM
I suppose it's (almost) an important issue and one shouldn't giggle, but I must say it's hard to resist recalling that I said previously this sort of thing was going to happen in America just as fast as, if not faster than, in Britain. And lo, it came to pass.
Last bastion of liberty and home to those antagonised and spied upon Europeans? Yeah, right. The whole world is inexorably going this way, largely because technology makes it possible.
EG
Posted by Euan Gray at May 11, 2005 01:52 PM
Call me crazy, but I'm emailing these folks now:
president@whitehouse.gov
vice.president@whitehouse.gov
The real problem is that legislation like this can be tacked onto must-pass bills, like supporting the troops.
Posted by Ivan Kirigin at May 11, 2005 02:54 PM
There's no need to sound so fucking happy about it is there?
Tell you what Euan, why don't you lock yourself in an air tight room and giggle at the little people for as long as the oxygen lasts?
Posted by John K at May 11, 2005 02:55 PM
There's no need to sound so fucking happy about it is there?
Well, it's sometimes gratifying to see the smug "it could never happen here what with our armed population resisting state tyranny and all" sanctimony of others punctured when theory collides with reality. Of course, there's also the entertaining dichotomy between on the one hand the idea that the state is useless and incompetent, and on the other the paranoid fear and insecurity about state intrusions in privacy. If it's so bloody useless, it will not be able to snoop effectively, so we won't have to worry. If it can snoop effectively such that we should worry, then logically it can't be so horrendously incompetent, so perhaps we should reconsider what the state can and cannot usefully do.
Frankly I don't think centralised ID is a big deal - I'm already on centralised databases for drivers licences, vehicle licences, vehicle inspections, dental records, medical records, taxation, income, passport, immigration, international travel, use of credit cards and debit cards throughout the nation and overseas, and so on. As is everyone else, pretty much. Centralising it makes a difference in theory, but not in practice. I've lived and worked in countries which do have pervasive centralised ID systems and, believe me, it makes not a blind bit of difference to anything.
EG
Posted by Euan Gray at May 11, 2005 03:14 PM
"Frankly, I don't think centralised ID isa big deal".
If it does not "make a blind bit of difference", why does Euan think our leaders are so keen on it, then? I don't share his typically smug, complacent attitude.
Posted by Johnathan at May 11, 2005 03:38 PM
If it does not "make a blind bit of difference", why does Euan think our leaders are so keen on it, then?
Because they THINK it makes a difference.
EG
Posted by Euan Gray at May 11, 2005 03:40 PM
Unlike you, I think ID cards cannot be shrugged off as of no consequence. (Just wait until people who get caught out by the bureacracy and get fined start complaining. Given the rank incompetence with which Britain handles IT projects, I predict mayhem.)
I wonder if Euan Gray will be giggling when that happens.
Posted by Johnathan at May 11, 2005 03:59 PM
Given the rank incompetence with which Britain handles IT projects, I predict mayhem
And given this, not to mention the supposed rank incompetence of state agencies at whatever they touch, there will no doubt be ways around the rules (there always are), the rules won't be enforced, there will be official alternatives, the whole thing will fall into disuse whilst being theoretically enforced, or perhaps all of the above.
There are innumerable rules and regulations already allegedly governing access to things, rights to do other things, etc. Many of them are routinely ignored, even by those supposed to be enforcing them. I doubt very much the mayhem you predict will happen. Rather, I suspect nothing much will change other than a bit of card people have to carry around and sometimes get asked for, especially in specific cricumstances. Not unlike a driver's licence, really.
EG
Posted by Euan Gray at May 12, 2005 12:31 PM
