[OT] [ale] Big Brother Wins, We lose...

[James Baldwin]

On May 12, 2005, at 7:20 PM, aaron wrote:



> In other words, the "law" makes compliance a matter of extortion.
>
>

We may have to agree to disagree on the definition of extortion. I  
define extortion as the gaining of something through force or  
threats. My employer does not "extort" work from me through force or  
threats. My father did not "extort" lawn mowing from me by offering  
me twenty dollars to do it.



> If a state expects to get a legitimate share of the federal tax  
> dollars that
> it's citizens contribute to the national coffers, they better  
> freakin get
> busy registering their gays and blacks and jews and hispanics and
> libertarians and quakers and arabs and asians with the Harmland  
> Secretpolice
> data base.
>
>

"legitimate share" is ambiguous and inflammatory. If you are making  
the argument that the States are _entitled_ to the Federal taxes  
their constituents pay, then that is a completely separate and  
different discussion to be had.

You are eligible for a grant if you participate in this centralized  
database, otherwise you are not. If you do not, you are not entitled  
to a financial grant. If you do not wish to spend State funds to  
bring your identification up to specification, you are not required  
to do so, however you do create a case where your citizens must then  
acquire a Federally approved identification measure, namely a passport.

It is the State's choice whether they wish to bear the cost of this  
inconvenience or their citizens. Keep in mind, the requirements of  
Title II for Federal compliance should have been implemented long  
since on a State level to prevent fraud. Outside the context of the  
rest of this bill, Title II is reasonable. There are many other  
reasons this bill should not have passed Congress apart from Real ID,  
and it is disconcerting that Real ID is what the media is focusing on.



> I'm sure the states will be similarly extorted when its time for  
> them to start
> issuing the arm bands...
>
>

Thank you for illustrating exactly what I meant by fear, uncertainty,  
and doubt.