It's about time? Bad news? what do you think, I myself am out...part of the over 50 gang.
If you were born after Dec. 1, 1964, be prepared to face something in addition to that long line at the department of motor vehicles over the next few years: more scrutiny.
Following 9/11 commission recommendations aimed at rooting out potential terrorists, driver's license rules and procedures will be standardized across all 50 states, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday.
But the new plan is likely to anger many -- from states who will have to implement the costly changes to civil rights groups who charge the changes will invade individuals' privacy and make them more vulnerable to identity theft.
The program, called REAL ID, will require states to demand certain standards for individuals obtaining driver's licenses, including proof of citizenship and residency, instead of the typical date of birth and Social Security number.
States will also have to work together to make certain the applicants don't obtain multiple licenses. Additionally, they'll need to add security features into the license design in order to help stop counterfeiting.
Most individuals will be required to present REAL ID-verified identification for boarding commercial airline flights, accessing a federal facilities and entering nuclear power plants before the end of 2014. ABC News: Under 50? New ID Plan Likely to Affect You
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Heck, it seems pretty logical to me and I wonder why they didn't do it before now. If you are not here in the US legally you should not be able to get a license. And if you ARE here legally (either born here or here by any other legal ways) it should not be hard to prove you are legal.
It always made me shake my head seeing that all folks needed was to say they were here legally and toss out a SSN (which is NOT a form of identification... read the card, it even says so) and they got a license.
Nope, I have no issues with it.
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- Sam
The shackles of opression and dependence are most easily slipped on with a smile and kind words of hope.
I will only have issue with this if it significantly increases the fees I must pay in order to renew my D.L. I figure the government gets enough of my money as it is. If the feds want to do this, let them use some of the money they would otherwise be wasting on something else to defray any extra cost.
Of course, simply being born in this country does not exclude someone from being a potential terrorist. Then, again, I see illegal immigration in general as a much bigger problem for our country than potential terrorists who, while certainly real, have become a bit of a 'boogeyman' for our society. Maybe such requirements will be a step in the right direction to curbing illegal immigration, as well.
This is the trial attempt at a national ID card. It should work, too.
Most states already have the process highly automated. By everyone going to a single process using common materials, there should be cost savings rather than increases. Being able to ferret out criminals better will also yield more income from fines.
The benefits in terms of addressing illegal immigration - fake licenses - fraud - and all the other crimes tied into the issue of false identification will be huge.
It will also mean that folks that lose licenses in one state (for whatever reason) won't be able to just switch over to another neighboring state.
LOL, the recent hilarity involving Indiana's new rules about checking the identity of their electorate will also come into play, wait and see.
The funny thing about that is that the old lady who is the case's poster child has been found to registered to vote in TWO states, using two different addresses and (wait for it) two different driver licenses.
No wonder she complained at the idea that the state of Indiana might want to check her identity!
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tripleblack
"You can never be free until you let yourself go."
This one WILL end up in front of lots of federal courts, perhaps even the Supremes, with some really ironic scenes...
If we're lucky, they will clear the legal hurdles before my kid dies of old age.
The thing that I really find ironic and sad, is that driving is not even a RIGHT in the United States for citizens. Yet some seem to think it is a RIGHT for ILLEGALs to have a license.
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- Sam
The shackles of opression and dependence are most easily slipped on with a smile and kind words of hope.
Whats new about this? We have had commercial drivers license'sCDL since 1988 or so. I have to pay $180 this coming may for a renewal.
..which includes being fingerprinted and background checked by the FBI.....is you have a HAZMAT Endorsement.
I'm FOR the universal ID card, but AGAINST further spending that is purposed. Nationalize the current state facilities and their personnel or better yet....privatize the complete process!
..which includes being fingerprinted and background checked by the FBI.....is you have a HAZMAT Endorsement.
I'm FOR the universal ID card, but AGAINST further spending that is purposed. Nationalize the current state facilities and their personnel or better yet....privatize the complete process!
If they just "standardize" we'll see a lot of benefits.
Even the CDL system is haphazard, with differing standards in most of the 50 states due to wildly variable state laws. Just as with the 50 different state EPAs designating 50 different blends of gasoline, this sort of thing just drives up costs and creates mass confusion. I'm all for "home rule", but stupidity is as stupidity does...
If we didn't have an illegal alien problem the push for a national id control point would not be necessary. But we do, and therefore the new system IS needed. It over-rides home rule, and becomes a national security issue (just as transporting hazardous materials across multiple state lines does).
This is a chance to fix a lot of problems - OR create a lot of new ones.
We can only hope...
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tripleblack
"You can never be free until you let yourself go."
Give the government, federal or state, an unlimited amount of tax payer money and they will try to solve an unlimited number of real and imagined problems...then they will invent more ways to spend the money!
The CDL system has been massaged since it's inception in the late 80's and is fairly effective today. Federal standards are now used for testing and it's damn near impossible to have more than one license which was commonplace before.
Give the government, federal or state, an unlimited amount of tax payer money and they will try to solve an unlimited number of real and imagined problems...then they will invent more ways to spend the money!
The CDL system has been massaged since it's inception in the late 80's and is fairly effective today. Federal standards are now used for testing and it's damn near impossible to have more than one license which was commonplace before.
Close the open border!
Absolutely, getting control of our borders (all our borders) is essential. Realistically, it will take some time to build the infrastructure and train up the people needed to do this - at least 2 years, unfortunately (and boy, wouldn't it have been nice if we had started in 2001 instead of 2008)!
But then there's the 10-20 million illegals already here to cope with. Establishing a working set of border rules is a lot easier when you don't have to make it work BOTH directions.
No choice. We either do this thing withe the licenses, or we have no chance of getting a handle on things. With the number of nuts sitting in city halls and governor mansions around the country seeking to make their own private "illegal alien sanctuaries" and issue "valid" licenses and ID to all comers...
It funnels right back to a serious national security issue, with the necessity of addressing the problem as a country, not a county.
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tripleblack
"You can never be free until you let yourself go."
Yep! If we only enforce the laws that are already on the books and control our borders this conversation would not even be taking place!
One advantage this new CDL rules on Hazmat did was weed out alot of drivers, there is a shortage now of qualified hazmat drivers and wages are slowly but surely going up. Normaly December and January are slow months for us because of inventory reductions and geting ready for end of year reductions for taxes. Not this year.
I guess for every action there is a reaction.
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06' GT Tungsten gray,seq. turn sigs. no spoiler.
XM,
An armed man is called a citizen.A disarmed man is called a subject.
Yep! If we only enforce the laws that are already on the books and control our borders this conversation would not even be taking place!
One advantage this new CDL rules on Hazmat did was weed out alot of drivers, there is a shortage now of qualified hazmat drivers and wages are slowly but surely going up. Normaly December and January are slow months for us because of inventory reductions and geting ready for end of year reductions for taxes. Not this year.
I guess for every action there is a reaction.
My #1 hit on the Bush Administration is their utter lack of support for enforcing immigration laws (#2 hit is the Iraq nation-building debacle, #3 is their similar lack of support for enforcing trade laws).
If all we had done was MAINTAIN the rules put in place after the Reagan Amnesty (my #1 hit with Reagan, btw), we would be about 60% better-off right now!
Its like any case where you keep putting off a necessary task - eventually, it snowballs into a big slimey pile that is REALLY hard to fix.
But it won't fix itself.
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tripleblack
"You can never be free until you let yourself go."
DHS Announces New License Security Standards 
