South Carolina Rebels Against the RealID
South Carolina recently voted to not implement the requirements of the federally mandated RealID Act of 2005. Passed by both houses of congress, this legislation directs the states to implement standards with regards to state-issued ID cards. The bill, which now has a compliance date of December 2009, requires that ID cards contain the same data, that your documents be verified against the issuing agency, and that such data be pooled in a national database.
Imagine your next trip to the DMV and how smooth things will be when you, and everyone in front of you, are having to wait while the attendant verifies your social security number and birth certificate with the Internal Bureaucracy Department. Even the pragmatic expense of both time and money are swamped by concerns of privacy loss. Big brother is about to put you in his Rolodex.
Nevertheless, based on the Department of Fatherland Security’s website, you only have something to worry about if you are a terrorist or illegal immigrant.
What is REAL ID?
REAL ID is a nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that State governments issue.
I could make a quick list of why none of that makes sense: terrorists won’t get Real IDs, kids will still make counterfeit IDs because they aren’t allowed to drink, and pretending that a Federal program will inject ‘reliability’ and ‘accuracy’ into already state-run ID programs is a fantasy. At best, it will allow frauds to defraud with more impunity - if you can get into the RealID network, there’s no higher or lateral level to expose you as a fraud.
Despite costing millions to implement, the Fed is not paying for it. Why would anyone go along with it then? Because in December 2009, you will not be able to enter a Federal building or get on a plane without a RealID compliant card. Knowing it cannot force the states to comply because the law is unconstitutional as per the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, the Fed has resorted to the usual strong-arm bully tactics. If this ever does come to pass, I fully expect that South Carolina will pass a similar law stating that you cannot get into a state-owned building WITH a REAL-ID compatible card. The fight is on.
Thus enters the great State of South Carolina, the latest in a short list of states rejecting outright their obligation to implement this unfunded mandate.
“What this bill (REAL ID) would bring us back to is those same longer lines . . .” - Gov. Mark Sanford
The DMV estimates it would cost $25 million to implement the program the first year and cost an additional $11 million every year after that.
As of the latest tally, 32 states now oppose the RealID.
The question has become, how could a union of states come together and form a government that passes legislation the majority of them do not want? The answer lies in the direct-election of Senators, aka the Seventeenth Amendment. Before its passage, Senators were appointed by the state legislature. The change has lead to an erosion of states’ rights - as the blatantly unconstitutional RealID act proves. Consider the following quote from Roger Sherman, writing in a letter to John Adams:
The senators, being . . . dependent on [state legislatures] for reelection, will be vigilant in supporting their rights against infringement by the legislature or executive of the United States.
Take THAT RealID!
It goes without saying that, when the Real ID passes with 100-0 vote in the senate, the senators are not “being vigilant” in support of states’ rights. They are no longer politically encumbered by the Constitution or the states they represent, only to popularity.
South Carolina has never ratified the Seventeenth Amendment.
For more, see RealID: Controversy and Opposition (Wikipedia), Ron Paul: Last Chance to Stop National ID, LewRockwell.com: Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment.
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<p>[…] you under penalty of law, flags moderately-sized bank transactions, tracks your medical history, and is creating a national ID. These and other other acts are unconstitutional affronts to your liberty and privacy and should be […]</p>