ZGram - 7/29/2002 - "Reviving a de facto national ID"

irimland@zundelsite.org irimland@zundelsite.org
Thu, 18 Jul 2002 15:52:04 -0700


ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

July 29, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Not exactly a Sunday treat - but then, who's counting?

[START]

Reviving a de facto national ID

Sheldon Richman

     Back in 1996 some members of Congress got the bright idea they 
could impose a national ID card on the American people through the 
backdoor by linking driver's licenses to Social Security numbers.

     Fortunately, widespread concern about violations of privacy 
caused the law to be repealed in 1999 before it took effect.

     But Washington operates on the pernicious principle that no bad 
idea really dies. It just waits offstage until a good crisis comes 
along. The original driver's license proposal was part of an 
immigrant-control bill.

     That cause apparently did not create enough hysteria to enable 
the government to foist a de facto national ID on the American 
people. But the statist's hope springs eternal, and sure enough his 
crisis has come along: the War on Terrorism. Just as night follows 
day, the backdoor national ID is back on the agenda.

     Sen. Richard Durbin, Illinois Democrat, has introduced a bill to 
standardize the driver's licenses of all states, converting them into 
a de facto national ID. Mr. Durbin's bill would permit "rapid 
data-sharing among certain government agencies," The Washington Post 
reported. It would do more than prescribe standards for how the card 
should be constructed. It would also mandate the criteria for 
qualifying for a license. And of course the federal government would 
be ready to give money to the states to carry out their newly imposed 
responsibilities.

     This wouldn't be a full-blown ID card, mainly because one is not 
required to have a driver's license unless one drives. But most 
people do drive, so that is not much of an impediment. Moreover, 
since you can't fly without an acceptable photo ID, even nondrivers 
find it necessary to get state-issued identification. In other words, 
if this isn't a national ID, it'll do until the real thing comes 
along.

     The public is still not thrilled with the idea of a national ID, 
although it wins in some public opinion polls. It's too soon to know 
what people think of a standardized driver's license. It doesn't 
sound nearly as threatening as a card issued by the federal 
government. And that may be its appeal to political leaders. It's the 
same warm, safe driver's license we've always carried, right? It's 
just a little different.

     Actually, it would be a lot different. A standardized license, 
with a common system for biometric identification, would enable 
government agencies to establish and easily link to a central 
database containing information on virtually all adult Americans. 
Easy sharing of information among agencies is precisely why this 
system is attractive to its sponsors.

     Ironically, advocates of a standard license say it will make 
identity theft harder. But others say it might make it easier. Break 
into the central database and you've hit the mother lode for sure. (A 
central medical database is not far off in the future.)

     More ominously, anything approaching a national ID will 
facilitate government's monitoring of people. That's the point. If 
the system is supposed to make it easier to catch terrorists, it has 
to make it easier to watch everyone. After all, the law-enforcement 
folks don't know who the terrorists are. The ones involved in the 
September 11 atrocities had their papers in order. So how a national 
ID, even a de facto one, would have caught them is a mystery.

     We should assume that any sophisticated criminal operation will 
have the means to produce or procure fake IDs. So law-abiding people 
won't even get protection in return for the harassment and monitoring 
they will undergo. All they'll have is a false sense of security.

     We have to look at the big picture. Mr. Durbin and his allies 
may not have this in mind, but his plan will inevitably soften the 
American people for more and more government surveillance. After this 
"harmless" first step is taken, more steps will follow. We'll be 
required to have the card on us at all times. We'll be required to 
produce it on demand. We'll be required to swipe it on various 
occasions. It is not unreasonable to expect that it will gradually be 
transformed into an internal passport - all in the name of fighting 
terrorism.

     Will people accept such treatment? Stay tuned.

[END]

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      Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at the Future of Freedom 
Foundation in Fairfax, Va., author of "Tethered Citizens: Time to 
Repeal the Welfare State," and editor of Ideas on Liberty magazine.