Police State ID Card Bill Passes Without Congress Even Reading It

[floydian slip]

3,000 page bill passage mirrors first Patriot Act sneak-through

At approximately 3:30pm today, Ron Paul's press secretary Jeff Deist called Alex Jones to warn him that the legislation that encompasses the national ID card and Patriot Act 2 provisions was on the verge of passing the House tonight.

Deist stated that the bill and what it means for America could be described in a word as 'tyranny'.

Deist's tone was the most concerned that Alex had ever known in his years of communication with Ron Paul's office. Alex made it clear how upset Desit was and that the situation reminded him of a 'war room atmosphere'. Deist and Ron Paul are desperate to mobilize the alternative media before the bill reaches the Senate tomorrow.

Its ok if you are a law abiding citizen.

Let me see you papers please, come with me, your papers seem to be out of order.

[tambourine-man]

Great. If you're doing it, Blunkett's sure to follow suit.

Gah... what's so wrong with anonymity?

[multi]

its an old iea over here..they wanted it back in '87
according to this similar plans in the UK are well under way...

Australia Card II debate needed

DECEMBER 07, 2004
THE announcement by Queen Elizabeth of plans for a compulsory identity card scheme for the United Kingdom has sparked discussion about whether Australia should consider a similar course of action.

The federal Government denied a few weeks ago it had plans to introduce an Australia Card-style national identification system, after an Australian Federal Police spokesman suggested it was time to revisit the idea.

Growing problems with identity theft and concerns over increased security and terrorism threats have prompted new interest in this subject.

The UK scheme was pushed by similar issues, along with the need to tighten immigration processes.

Population registration programs operate in several European nations, including Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, among others, where community concerns over privacy issues rate less than in Australia.

Australia and the UK last operated identity registration card systems during World War II.

These were justified because of the scarcity of food and the need to monitor rationing, but they ended with the war.

In the United States, people are required to provide their Social Security Number to employers.

However, the SSN scheme is considered to have relatively low integrity since it is easy to falsify numbers and most employers can't check the validity of the number supplied.

Opponents of the UK proposal are citing privacy concerns, the huge costs associated with introducing such a scheme as well as the imposition on citizens to prove their identity and apply for the card.

Under the proposal, everyone over the age of 16 will have personal information, fingerprints and facial scans recorded as well as paying for the privilege of receiving a card.

According to no2id.net: "The Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office currently struggles to register half a million people a year – a visit to a UK immigration office begins with a long queue circling the building.

"This will be the reality of getting an ID card – an experience to be repeated every five-to-10 years of your adult life.

"Entry to the UK will be easier for tourists than for British citizens, who must have their biometrics compared against the ID register."

Then there is the increased imposition on businesses and employers, which must view and record card details, impose sanctions on people who don't have one, and presumably report to authorities on the results.

Once those sorts of systems are in place, it's a short leap to seeing more and more businesses classifying individuals by their unique number rather than their name and then begin sharing data based on that number.

The sad reality about many identity systems is that while honest citizens are forced to go through administrative rigmarole to prove who they are, organised criminals quickly find ways to rort the system with false documentation.

When the government proposed the Australia Card ID system back in the mid-1980s to combat tax evasion, welfare fraud and illegal immigration, the community responded with mass demonstrations around the country.

It would be interesting to see what the present sentiment is.

Certainly, former Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton said the concept of an Australia Card was outdated and that we need to look for other solutions.

He told the 25th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners last year that new technologies offer great potential "to ensure that authentication challenges can be met at the same time as maintaining, or even enhancing, the dignity and privacy of individuals".

There have been suggestions in recent months that the new Medicare SmartCard associated with the Commonwealth HealthConnect program could be an Australia Card by stealth, because it includes an embedded microchip with a range of functionality, including the ability to store health data and a unique patient identification (UPI) number.

It is essential that all potential uses for this number are defined and made public, including what type of data can be linked to the card, who will have access and how it can be used.

The intense opposition to the original Australia Card proposal was partly the result of concern about function creep, because of a lack of detailed definition over the storage and use of personal data.

If there is any suggestion of a national ID system being introduced in Australia, it must be debated vigorously in the public arena before any decisions are made.

I believe that ICT professionals must figure prominently in any such discussion, since it will fall to us to design and administer the databases, biometrics recording and reporting systems associated with such a scheme.

I would rather see any money that might be used for a national ID program invested in developing systems that actually track identity fraud and bring criminals to justice without imposing unnecessary burdens on business and the community.

link

[tambourine-man]

Blunkett's been planning and mentioning this on numerous occaions. The issue usually gets raised in response to either an event of terrorism.

I guess we'll have to hope that the boogeymen have the common courtesy to apply for one.

[Nicobie]

As U might guess, I follow this kind of shit fairly close.

It's news to me.

If true..... It's time to revolt.

Fire every big govm'nt worker, then go to local rule.

[JackSpratts]

vote republican for: more spending, more laws, more tyranny, more government, less freedom.

it's just an amazing thing to watch.

- js.

[floydian slip]

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2004/tst122004.htm

In 2002 I asked my House colleagues a rhetorical question with regard to the onslaught of government growth in the post-September 11th era: Is America becoming a police state?

The question is no longer rhetorical. We are not yet living in a total police state, but it is fast approaching. The seeds of future tyranny have been sown, and many of our basic protections against government have been undermined. The atmosphere since 2001 has permitted Congress to create whole new departments and agencies that purport to make us safer- always at the expense of our liberty. But security and liberty go hand-in-hand. Members of Congress, like too many Americans, don’t understand that a society with no constraints on its government cannot be secure. History proves that societies crumble when their governments become more powerful than the people and private institutions.

Unfortunately, the new intelligence bill passed by Congress two weeks ago moves us closer to an encroaching police state by imposing the precursor to a full-fledged national ID card. Within two years, every American will need a “conforming” ID to deal with any federal agency-- including TSA at the airport.

Wake Up Amerika!!! This is an elected official talking!!

Most Germans thought that everything was OK in 1933. Just as most Americans think everything will be ok now. They elected Hitler too.

[JackSpratts]

"wake up"? lol, americans love this sh*t. everyone does. all over the world. tell 'em it's for they're own good and they eat it up. guns kill 30,000 a year, cars 45,000, hospital mistakes kill 100,000, booze i don’t know how many and cigs kill some 400,000 a YEAR but seriously, what good is liberty if every 10 years a few thousand die in an attack? it's good for nothin! nothing at all they'll tell ya. they want police states and they can't get ‘em fast enough.

nope, you want to fight this trend you'll have to fight your politicos naturally but you'll really have to fight your neighbors - and fight them hardest of all. good luck with that one.

- js.

[albed]

But it's too terrifying to fight. Too vague and terrifying and scary and vague because people can only describe it by calling it something vague and terrifying and you get the impression they don't have a clue what they want people to be afraid of.

But what it really is is change. They just have to stop change because it's so scary to them and they have to make other people afraid to get the help they need to stop things from changing.

So scare other people to stop the scary changes. You forgot to use the term 'slippery slope' though, I thought that was de rigueur.