Re: more info & news on Real ID

Here is an article from AP-Washington dated 2/4/07 that talks briefly around the edges of Real ID and how it was voted down by the state legislature of Maine. It alludes to disaproval growing on a larger, potentially nationwide scale.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-real-id,0,6810481....

Here are my comments - mostly questions at this point, on not just the recent situation in Maine but the larger situation as it concerns Real ID.

For starters, how many people are even interested OR even care to know anything about Real ID?. How many feel that they have previously been well aprised and informed on the matter (HR418)? How many have already heard or seen detailed information provided by any of the monopoly MSM outlets print and or broadcast such that the informtion provided went into genuine indepth explanation of the issues involved and the practical effects to be felt by the people once this legislation is implemented? How many people are aware that the Real ID Act  was originally voted down in Congress during the fall of 2004, but was soon after  re-introduced in such a way that it was effectively hidden -  "attached", within another piece of legislation for mandatory funding of the war in Iraq? How many people already know how "mandatory spending bills" work? 

HR418 was therefore approved, without debate, by Congress and the president, and signed into law in May 2005, such that it was given three years to be implemented state-by-state throughout all 50 states of the Union. The feds in this cases intended to obligate the states to absorb the entire cost of buildout of the infrastructure - in large part computer & electronic, necessary to implement this new system identifying people. This is often how the relationship works between the federal government and the state legislatures; the feds obligate the states to act in certain ways, and if they do, somewhere down the road there will be made available an assortment of "federal funding" - kickback, perhaps a few billion dollars for highway spending here, perhaps a few billion dollars for general purpose pork there, but if they (the states) do not comply, well, then,  the federal sugar daddy will with hold his doling out from the federal coffers and teach those states a lesson. This is basically how the feds ultimately force the states to do their bidding, generally through some combination of extortion and bribery.  Initial estimates were all across the board but it guesstimated to weigh in somewhere around 10 to 20 million dollars, per state, or worst case some where around $10 billion total, roughly.

How many people are already familiar with the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004? It is alleged to be legislative activity made mandatory as a result of the 911 Commission, which itself was the body appointed by government to produce and maintain the government's offical version of the hows, whos and whys 911 happened the way the offical version alleges & maintains it to have happened. In order, there were the events of September 2001, followed by Patriot Act I approved sight-un-seen (rumored to be over 800 pages of legislation) by Congress in October 2001. Eventually, grudgingly, the government agreed to form it's 911 Comission. Eventually the IRTPA of 2004 was approved which eventually led to the approval of HR418 although it was, in the end, attached to a war funding bill that was not debated. We are now one year removed from the target date requiring HR418 to be implemented state by state. Finally, there seems to be some activity stirring and occuring closer down at the level where the people are; Maine. Make sense?

Here is an excerpt from the above AP story:

"It's the whole privacy thing," said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "A lot of legislators are concerned about privacy issues and the cost. It's an estimated $11 billion implementation cost."

So, there we have it, in a nut shell, according to somebody who is employed by the National Conference of State Legislatures...... can anybody tell me briefly what / who they are or what they do and why should any of us genuinely care in the context of this topic?  This thing, formally called HR418, which I wager the average person today, incuding those in Maine, knows not the slightest bit about, is merely a privacy thing, that's all, as though it's just like a hang nail or bad hair day, that's all. That and the fact that it's already balooned another billion in estimated cost. I personally do not claim to know intimately what all this HR418 is really about, but it's not for lack of trying. Since May 2005 I have been trying to search and find information, news, stories and whatnot about this one needle in the veritable haystack full of political needles. Along the way I've had people tell me "real ID?, you're whacked, you're paranoid, there will never be any such law like what you are describing, not in this country, it cannot and will not ever happen in America". This seems to be in part the nature of stealth legislation; nobody knows about it until after it's seemingly too late. However, I've so far been able to find consistent information that indicates that for anyone who chooses to opt out (*)of this new Real ID Driver's License, they will be prohibited from entering federal facilities, such as commercial aircraft, nuclear power plants, court rooms, banks, and will be prohibited from opening some types of bank accounts. I have not yet found further elaboration of what "certain types" of bank account really means, but I find it awfully curious that this effort to enforce a national Driver's License seems to carry the stiffest restrictions on activities (banking, air travel, nuke plants) that themselves are not directly related to the movement of people by cars.

* it may be important for people, all people, in general, to know that they will likely have an opt-out option. It may not necessarily be one to their liking, but one nonetheless. at this late state, though, I honestly do not know much of the details of what op-out options HR418 will provide for people who still wish to generally be allowed to drive their cars on the public thoroughfares. Time may tell. It may tell albeit too late, but no doubt will eventually tell. Here is a for instance I've been thinking about as far as what my near future transportation options may be. I now live in a rural community. On Sundays it is common to see Amish riding down the road, heading to and from church, in a horse-drawn buggy. I've contemplated trading in the sedan for one of these setups. Upon further contemplation, it will not be all that easy. I would need to find and know a farrier,and probably need to maintain at least a small stable or suitable lodging for the animal, and feed, and waste removal, and perhaps some basic instructions on how to operate the horse. The good news is, I checked with the local state police. Other than making sure the back end of the buggy is equipped with the obligatory big orange triangle, there really is not much in the way of formal requirements to operate a horse & buggy; for instance, no licenses, no paper work, no ID, no SS#, no inspections, no emissions, no horse-shoe recycling fees, no overt tracking by big brother. Still, it would be a big adjustment at best. There would be no hopping into the buggy for a quick stopNgo jaunt down the street to the convenience store, or for a quickie visit here or there, no impromptu car-ride equivalent just to kill some time and enjoy the freedom of same. Instead, travel would need to be adapted and limited to true necessity. Hmm?  

Try to remember what the general state and alertedness and war news reporting and day-in day-out general conditions throughout the country were just 2 years ago. I recall there was a whole lot more rampant sentiment coming through all sectors of the monopoly media and echoing off the people on the street in favor of the war than there is in the present. Then try to imagine that if any Congress person then, had they even been so inclined to request debate of HR418 rather than signing their name to it without questin, how this likely would have been played through the monopoly media and the war profiteers & war mongers who generally have unfettered access to and through the media to the people. I can almost imagine it, a hannity or an o'reilly or limbaugh or williams or matthews or most other me-too MSM personality turning this story into :  "See this? See these rotten people? They are wanting to debate funding for the war effort!. They want to debate whether or not your children, your boys and girls over in Iraq prosecuting our war of protecting democracy and freedom for the world should have the best equipment and food and supplies that money can buy. They are miserable, unpatriotic people who have the nerve to call themselves Americans by requesting debate on the price tag"

Some other references:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/05/real_id.html

http://www.realnightmare.org/images/File/Licensing_Section_Real_ID_Act_of_200...

(relevant text starts with the heading for Title II)

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.00418: