REAL ID

Well, I haven't posted in a while, I've been pretty busy with work. This is my 100th post to this blog, I've been trying to think of something special to do for the 100th post, but nothing really appealed to me. But I think the REAL ID legislation is definitely important enough to be the subject of my 100th post. I subscribe to a newsletter put out by an organization called DownsizeDC. They have some really nice tools that allow you to enter your information and contact all of your congressmen at the same time.

They have put out a notice about the Maine legislature voting nearly unanimous to NOT comply with the REAL ID act and request that Congress repeal it. Way to go Maine! I have written my congressmen with a slightly modified letter from DownsizeDC. As I was doing this, I discovered that Bob Corker does not have any way of emailing or submitting a message electronically on his page. So he will be getting a paper version, along with the recommendation that he accept electronic communication.

I also plan on writing my local legislators asking them to do what Maine has done. If we sit and do nothing, by the summer of 2008 we will be carrying a national ID, the federal government will be collecting even more information about us and if your state decides not to comply you will not be able to travel by plane. So I urge anyone who reads this to write their representatives and demand the repeal of this invasive law immediately. Below is the message I am sending. You can find your representatives by going to http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/.

"I read in the news that the Maine legislature has refused to comply with the REAL ID Act, and they've asked you to repeal it. Surely you know that more states are going to follow Maine's lead. There are already similar bills pending in Georgia, Massachusetts, Montana and Washington. I am writing my local representatives in Tennessee to urge them to introduce bills exactly like Maine's. Please read the handwriting on the wall and take immediate steps to repeal this bad law. Don't try to fix it. Just repeal it.

I don't want centralized databases and controls over my personal information. The federal government has shown itself completely incompetent to manage and properly use the powers and tools it already has. Perhaps if you spent more time having the federal government do less, it would stand a better chance of doing a few things reasonably well. Please repeal REAL ID now!"