The idea of having a national ID card in the USA, complete with embeded biometrics, has been floated before and firmly rejected by most citizens. Now it appears that the Bush administration sneaked in legislation for creating a national ID card by stealth. Take a look and see if you don’t agree:
The Christian fundamentalists will never go for it. It is a sign of the apocalypse.
[quote=“Dog’s_Breakfast”]The idea of having a national ID card in the USA, complete with embeded biometrics, has been floated before and firmly rejected by most citizens. Now it appears that the Bush administration sneaked in legislation for creating a national ID card by stealth. Take a look and see if you don’t agree:
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/ … TE=DEFAULT[/quote]
Clinton was pushing for a National ID card as far back as 1993. I guess he wanted America to be more “European.” 
I thought that the Christian fundamentalists were looking forward to the Apocalypse? I know I am.
cheers,
DB
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
- Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind
It seems like something that will probably happen sooner or later in one form or another. I notice that the UK seems to be moving that direction:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=641662
In the US, there seems to be plenty of mixed opinions on the subject. Until DB posted his article, the what little I had read on the topic suggested that it the White House was resisting the idea, which had strong support from liberal democrats such as Bob Kuttner, who argue in favor of national ID cards based on health/immunization, immigration freedom, and voting rights grounds.
Will be interesting to see what happens here.
If they put up a minefield and barbed wire fence along the US-Mexican border, we wouldn’t need to worry about ID cards. Oh, and not give visas to Saudi men. Let them stay in Mecca slaughtering goats.
[quote=“God”]Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.[/quote]
And they will be skulls. And they will smoke.
This is what’s known as a “self-fulfilling” prophecy.
A lot of that going around these days and a lot more coming down the pike.
[quote=“spook”]This is what’s known as a “self-fulfilling” prophecy.
A lot of that going around these days and a lot more coming down the pike.[/quote]
Seymour Hersh??? [b]O-K![/b]
Ah, it must be so nice to be naive and Republican… life has such simple solutions without the need of morality to interfere. 
Without cheap immigrant labor the US economy would probably collapse. Barbed wire and minefields (which would be very expensive) would kill a few, but new ways of making it around, under, or over the border would be found. The cost of a Subway sub in the US would become just as expensive as they are here because the cost of labor would rise. I understand CONTROLLED immigration is necessary. Ridiculous and expensive solutions, a Republican specialty (i.e. Star Wars), would do us and poor Mexicans more harm than good.
to the unnecessary and unhelpful gradeschool insults elsewhere in sbmoor’s post
to the basic sentiment that controlled immigration is necessary and healthy
Do you mean the Strategic Defense Initiative? As I recall, it was the SDI that ended up destroying the USSR economically and hastening the collapse of Soviet/European communism. And poor Mexicans? Spare me. If they don’t like the way things are in Mexico, they can change their government. Or die in the desert.
[quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“spook”]This is what’s known as a “self-fulfilling” prophecy.
A lot of that going around these days and a lot more coming down the pike.[/quote]
Seymour Hersh??? [b]O-K![/b]
[/quote]
You, no doubt, prefer the Kool-Aid version:
In an interview on the same program, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the story was “riddled with inaccuracies.”
“I don’t believe that some of the conclusions he’s drawing are based on fact,” Bartlett said.
it’s about time we had a national id card. driver’s licenses are too easy to fake. even with the high tech licenses like in cali. what with the increase in identity theft these days, a national id card solves many more problems than it creates.
I am all for more information. Its only the criminals need to worry.
I do however worry about my next states trip and being fingerprinted.
Seems damn personal.
Which problems would it solve? I think identity theft, like many of Bush’s crises is highly inflated. Teenage drinking/smoking?
Surely it wouldn’t solve illegal immigration since racial profiling is illegal or is it? :help:
do you view every issue through an anti-bush lens? i support a national id because i think it makes the use of id’s for things like bank forms and government services more convenient. i’ve recently had to fill out a bunch of financial forms and think that the use of state-issued licenses for driving as the authoritative form of identification is inefficient and outdated, especially considering that many people today do not even get their driver’s licenses until their 20’s.
incidentally, the strongest opposition to a national id comes from conservatives.
so do you actually have something to contribute to this discussion or did you just want to jump in here to take a dig at bush?
[quote=“Flipper”]do you view every issue through an anti-Bush lens? i support a national id because I think it makes the use of id’s for things like bank forms and government services more convenient. I’ve recently had to fill out a bunch of financial forms and think that the use of state-issued licenses for driving as the authoritative form of identification is inefficient and outdated, especially considering that many people today do not even get their driver’s licenses until their 20’s.
[/quote]
It’s a good point that there are a number of people who don’t/can’t drive and dont’ have driver’s licenses. However, in every state where I’ve obtained a driver’s license (4 so far) the Department of Motor Vehicles also issued ID cards for people who don’t drive. So by default, the DMV in individual states is pretty much the de facto ID card office. And if Bush’s plan goes through, as seems likely, we will have the equivalent of a national ID card, even if it’s not called that.
I wonder if we’ll have to give DNA samples?
The war on terrorism continues.
cheers,
DB
[quote=“Flipper”]do you view every issue through an anti-Bush lens? i support a national id because I think it makes the use of id’s for things like bank forms and government services more convenient. I’ve recently had to fill out a bunch of financial forms and think that the use of state-issued licenses for driving as the authoritative form of identification is inefficient and outdated, especially considering that many people today do not even get their driver’s licenses until their 20’s.
incidentally, the strongest opposition to a national id comes from conservatives.
so do you actually have something to contribute to this discussion or did you just want to jump in here to take a dig at Bush?[/quote]
Aside from the problem with Bush, why do you think my post contributes nothing? I have valid points. You might think that driver’s licenses are inefficient and outdated but I haven’t ever had any trouble using one for identification.
As Mr. Dog pointed out, all states offer state IDs for those who don’t want or qualify for a driver’s license.
I should think the strongest opposition would come from people who say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. As far as I can see it ain’t broke. So why is your contribution to this discussion anymore worthwhile than mine?
I have had countless problems. Your driver’s licence is useless as an ID card outside of the US. However, most places I have been recognize national identity cards. Since state licences are not national, you can’t use them as ID in foreign banks, offices, etc. Of course, to Americans who don’t travel and don’t live abroad, it is no big deal. For those of us who do, it can be. Sometimes your passport just is not handy at the moment…it always helps to have a back-up.