Today the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 228-196,
passed a bill requiring photo ids by 2008. By 2010, we will all need to carry photo ids verifying our citizenship, in order to vote.
They are calling it the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 - H.R. 4844, and it was an almost strict party line vote, with only 3 Republicans voting against (Bass [NH-2], Bradley [NH-1] and Young [AK]) and 4 Democrats voting in favor (Bean [IL-8], Marshall [GA-3], Peterson [MN-7], Taylor [MS-4]).
Republican sponsors of the voter identification bill said it was a commonsense way to stop fraud at the polls. People need photo IDs to board planes, buy alcohol or cash checks, said Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Administration Committee. "This is not a new concept."
"This is what Americans want," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., "They want safe borders and they want safe ballots."
But Democrats assailed the legislation, saying it could hurt minorities, the poor and the elderly -- groups that tend to vote Democratic -- who might have trouble producing a photo identification.
"This bill is tantamount to a 21st century poll tax," said Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "It will disenfranchise large number of legal voters."
Nevermind that comparing voting to buying alcohol is insulting & absurd.
Even beyond the concerns about disenfranchising poor and elderly voters, I really don't see how this is not the first step to creating a new national ID card.
My father likes to talk about how when the Social Security system began. "They said it would be only for retirement, it would never become an ID number". And I have to answer him "I'm sorry Dad, but they lied".
What do you think is going to happen next, if we now have legislation mandating that in order to vote (in theory, a cornerstone right of our democracy) one must carry a card identifying oneself as a citizen. Is it really just paranoia, to assume that the next step is that it will become commonplace to have to carry this identification at all times, in case of suspicious activity? Do you trust your government to act with restraint, once this system is in place?
I'm sure we'll all be so much safer, once the Government is able to make sure that each person on the streets is carrying a standard, probably microchipped, photo ID.
By the way, also in the same news article is a discussion of the proposal to wall us into the USA with the 700-mile long fence, which will cost at least $1billion, but that's a whole different story...