one small step for man, one giant leap for Big Brother
The United States Congress just passed the RealID Act. This piece of legislation requires that each state issue a driver's license that conforms to a federal specification. This spec requires a national database of every cardholder, and that each card contain all its data (including a digital photograph) in a machine-readable format. The method they're leaning towards is Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), which is just stupid.
Of course, the bill that passed this act wasn't called the "National ID Card" bill. It wasn't even called the "Driver's License Reform bill". No, this minor, inconsequential law was quietly inserted as an addendum to a bill for "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief". It was passed 100-0, surprise surprise. There's a huge backlash against this. State Governors are calling it unconstitutional, and threatening a mass refusal to comply.
Of course, the bill that passed this act wasn't called the "National ID Card" bill. It wasn't even called the "Driver's License Reform bill". No, this minor, inconsequential law was quietly inserted as an addendum to a bill for "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief". It was passed 100-0, surprise surprise. There's a huge backlash against this. State Governors are calling it unconstitutional, and threatening a mass refusal to comply.
