National ID bashing with CATO policy brand Jim HarperThe Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana takes Governor Mitch Daniels (R) to task for claiming that the burdensome identification requirements he’s implementing in the state are required by federal law.
Many states across the country have refused to participate in the REAL ID Act, preserving their citizens’ privacy and tax dollars. Not Governor Daniels, and in a recent press release he misstated federal identification requirements while acting as if he’s helpless to do anything about them.
Says the Journal Gazette: “[B]laming the federal government for non-existent requirements is disingenuous. If the governor wants Hoosiers to take extra steps to prove their identity, he should say so himself.”
Indy.com ARTICLE: INDIANA plans to overhaul how it handles driver's licenses.
More moments in Real ID history:
Wisconsin Governor Defunds REAL ID
May 13, 2008
WisPolitics.com reports that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) plans to take more than $20 million out of the state’s REAL ID account and transfer it into the state’s general fund.
Wisconsin Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R) objects:
When I shepherded the REAL ID bill through Congress 3 years ago, it was in response to one of the key recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, that ‘fraud in identification documents is no longer just a problem of theft.’ As we saw in 2001, in the hands of a terrorist, a valid ID accepted for travel in the US can be just as dangerous as a missile or bomb.
Congressman Sensenbrenner is correct to claim responsibility for REAL ID, but less accurate in other parts of his statement. The 9/11 Commission’s ‘key’ recommendation wasn’t key. (Indeed, Congress’ effort to follow the Commission’s recommendation was repealed by REAL ID.)
Nobody – not the 9/11 Commission, not Congressman Sensenbrenner, not Stewart Baker, nor anyone else – can explain the proximity between false ID and terrorist attacks, or how REAL ID cost-effectively secures the country against any threat.
Wisconsin’s governor has issued a mighty well-placed snub to the creator of the “Sensenbrenner tax.”
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