TWIC'ked OFF

Jim Babka's, DownSize DC is doing some great work to stop Real ID's progress with his national machine, DownsizeDC.org . He's doing a lot in Conneticut, where the public seems to be still prety sleepy about Real ID and how they will inherit it. Real ID is a now a shapeshifting monster trying to survive.  In border states it looks like Enhanced Driver's licenses. In other coastal states it looks like some version of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Enter Transportation Worker Identification Credential or TWIC.

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants you to have a Real ID card that's very similar to the TWIC card. But DHS is failing to implement the Real ID because state governments are resisting. Twenty one states are refusing to comply with the REAL ID. It's probably the biggest rebellion against the federal government since the Civil War. So what can the DHS do to overcome this rebellion?

They can "pick off the herd" -- hit one industry at a time until so many people have Smart Cards no one is left to resist, " says Babka who later indicated that the commercial transport agencies and unions have been targets for Smart Card regulations.

Earlier this year TWIC, like all associations with citizens and Real ID, including TSA according to DHS were "voluntary".

Well, now the people who didn't volunteer their ID's at Airport checkpoints are being added to a separate watch list. 

The consequences for failing to comply with the TWIC program are threats to transport worker's job security. Lowell Rogers, a tugboat engineer of 23 years, talks about how a TWIC card threatens to end his career on Jim Babka's show this afternoon.

Babka will be hosting his nationally syndicated program on GCNlive.com at 3PM EST/2PM CST /Noon PST. Archives are available for 24 hours.