Serious doubts are now being cast against REAL-ID and whether the federal government can enforce its implementation.  Though Homeland Security continues to defend REAL-ID, it appears that ever increasing resistance to it could result in its demise.

Again, the gigantic $14 billion cost of the program is what continues to be the reason for States balking at the use of REAL-ID.  The States have already been forced to foot the bill for welfare reform and No Child Left Behind and they want no part in being told by the federal government that this is the law and they are going to pay for it.

New Hampshire Governor, John Lynch, is expected to sign the bill into law later this week, however, cost isn’t the only factor in rejecting REAL-ID there.

[T]he public policy established by Congress in the Real ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, is contrary and repugnant to Articles 1 through 10 of the New Hampshire constitution as well as Amendments 4 though 10 of the Constitution for the United States of America. Therefore, the state of New Hampshire shall not participate in any driver’s license program pursuant to the Real ID Act of 2005 or in any national identification card system that may follow therefrom.

Regardless of how this ends up, we, the taxpayers, are the ones who are going to be paying the bill for REAL-ID.  We will be paying for something most find disgusting and unimaginable.  That is why it is important to continue to put pressure on State governments to reject REAL-ID.  The more States that reject it will lead to a completely useless law.

You will also have the airlines on your side because, once this becomes a requirement, if enough States have rejected REAL-ID, then there will be far too many people that cannot fly because they don’t have the proper ID to board a plane.  How long will it be before the airlines put pressure on Washington to overturn the law due to massive losses?

Although it is rare for states to reject an act of Congress, New Hampshire and Oklahoma in May joined Montana and Washington state in passing statutes this year refusing to go along with Real ID. The refusals mean those states’ driver’s licenses eventually won’t be accepted as official identification when boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings.

In addition, the Idaho Legislature purposely left out any money to comply with the act. The Georgia Legislature passed a law giving Gov. Sonny Perdue authority to ignore the measure, but he is hoping the federal government will make the act more affordable, said his spokesman, Bert Brantley.

If you want people to have government issued ID to enter federal buildings and board airplanes, then use a passport, which happens to already fulfill all the requirements of REAL-ID.  You do not need a driver’s license in the form of REAL-ID so that you can be spied upon.  Driver’s licenses are a State’s issue.  The federal government needs to keep their hands out of the State’s business and stop pissing on the 10th Amendment.  They already have the ability to change the function of the passport, having done so in the past, so there is no legitimate reason for REAL-ID.

The National Conference of State Legislatures is asking the Homeland Security Department to allow states 10 years after Real ID rules are finalized to reissue existing licenses and to decrease costs by exempting military personnel and others with federal identification from the rigid screening process. If those conditions cannot be met by the end of 2007, NCSL plans to call for repeal of Real ID.

Once REAL-ID goes into effect, it will be near impossible to reject and overturn.  That is why is it so important to continue to push our States to stand up to the federal government and tell them to stay out of our business.  REAL-ID, in short, is an unfunded and unconstitutional mandate that, legally, should never have been allowed to exist.  It’s just too damned bad our Congressmen cannot read a bill before it becomes a law to even know that this kind of crap is slipped into unrelated bills.

Jim Harper of the libertarian Cato Institute, which opposes the driver’s license rules, said the states’ rejections doom the act to failure. “It’s more and more clear that the Real ID system won’t work to secure the country,” he said. More states are likely to refuse the requirements, creating a nightmare at airports where security screeners will have to distinguish between licenses that are Real ID-compliant and those that aren’t, Harper said.

You cannot achieve privacy and security at the same time.  You must choose one over the other and, at this point in time, privacy far outweighs security on this issue.  REAL-ID is not going to make us any more secure and it certainly isn’t going to prevent illegal immigration or fake ID cards.  We are at the line between privacy and security.  Are you going to cross it for a little false sense of safety?