Maine Disses RealID

[shyfrog]

Not sure if this was posted anywhere. If so, feel free to do with it as you please.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/01/maine_says_will.html

[Brock]

Free State North!!

[d_goddard]

Much like Alaska, yet another state that is not opposing Real-ID on principle, but simply wants more money.
The feds show up with $185 Mil, and the issue goes away.

<<edit>> Probably not true... see below



Compare and contrast to the text of last year's HB1582, before the Senate Republicans gutted it:

[Real-ID] 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 a national identification card system

[maineiac]

 

Huh?

(I am on opiates, washed down with vodka, spiced with the herbal smoke    . . . ascuse me!    )

[David]

  "police" 'Mr. Maineiac, step away from the burning basil, slowly, and with your hands held high,...I said step away from the burning basil'   

[Rochelle]

Wow. Plus +10 to Maine! This surprises me; they seemed like total pansies when I drove there last. Maybe once we've reached our goal in NH, we can move onto Maine!

[aries]

What is the status of action in NH against realID? Has there been a bill this year?

Link:
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6153532.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

It doesn't prohibit the state DMV from executing the RealID act, but does say that Maine "refuses" to participate. It was also not a law, but a resolution, however it passed both houses of the Maine legislature with near unanimous votes.

[aries]

I am on opiates

[Lex]

Wow. Plus +10 to Maine! This surprises me; they seemed like total pansies when I drove there last. Maybe once we've reached our goal in NH, we can move onto Maine!

They are, did you read d_goddard's reply? They will happily accept the RealID if they get more money.

On the other hand, we don't know for sure what the dynamics are, this could have been their way of stalling things while they convince people that it's a bad idea and if/when they get the extra money from the fed they may try to pass another bill similar to the NH one.

[Atlas]

If NH doesn't reject REAL ID, the FSP might fold...

[eques]

While there is a definite interest in preventing things like RealID from going forward, the constant infringment of rights may well serve as lynchpins to win more to our cause of freedom and minimal state involvement.

Ultimately, the state will not stop in its war against our individual freedoms.  The greatest war it is winning is the war to "capture the hearts and minds" of its constituents.  If we wage that battle and begin to win that war, then we stand a chance against the state.

It's not that we're United into One Force... it's that we realize that we each have a responsibility to ourselves, but to enforce that responsibility to ourselves, we must help others see the responsibility they have to themselves as well.

[tracysaboe]

Perhaps it's time for New Hampshire to try this again.
Tracy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! The Maine legislature just passed a resolution refusing to comply with the federal REAL ID Act, and calling on Congress to repeal it.

The vote was overwhelming. The Maine Senate voted for the resolution 34 to ZERO, while the Maine House passed it 137 to 4!

Ouch! That's a real spanking for Congress. Now . . .

The REAL ID Act is on the ropes, so it's time to throw as many hard punches as we can. Please send more messages to Congress today asking them to repeal the REAL ID Act. Here's what I'm going to say in my message:

"I notice 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. 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!"

But this isn't the only punch I plan to throw . . .

One of the reasons REAL ID is such a bad law, and one of the reasons it's in so much trouble, is because Congress didn't bother to sweat the details. As usual, they merely issued general directives and guidelines, and left the nitty-gritty details to the un-elected bureaucracy. So I'm going to use Downsize DC's "Write the Laws Act" to throw another punch. Here's the message I'm sending to Congress about "Write the Laws":

"The REAL ID Act is a perfect example of why you need to sponsor DownsizeDC.org's "Write the Laws Act." Congress didn't bother to attend to the details when you passed REAL ID. You left those details to the un-elected bureaucrats in the Department of Homeland Security. But those details turn out to be unworkable, expensive, and dangerous. You would have known this in advance if you'd taken the time to work out the details for yourselves. Please start doing this. Please start doing your jobs. Please stop delegating your legislative power to unelected bureaucrats. Please repeal REAL ID and please sponsor DownsizeDC.org's "Write the Laws Act."

Could you please take the time to throw two similar punches of your own . . .

Ask Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act here.

Ask Congress to introduce and pass "Write the Laws" here.

Let's press while the pressure is on.

Also, Jim Babka is on the radio again today, resuming his regular Friday appearance with Jerry Hughes.

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[Rochelle]

They are, did you read d_goddard's reply? They will happily accept the RealID if they get more money.

I read it, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll accept it for more money as they listed other concerns (though every state has its price...). My point was that at least they aren't bending over and begging for it like Tennessee.

[d_goddard]

I finally found the source text as well... NH's bills are at least easy to find!
Indeed, the bill does have decent philosophical objections (though I've lost the link to it :-| )

For those a bit disappointed NH couldn't be first: it's real simple. The Democrats, fresh in charge, do not really have their newly-acquired machinery working correctly. Parts will need to be replaced, parts will improve with practice.

[cathleeninnh]

The Democrats, fresh in charge, do not really have their newly-acquired machinery working correctly. Parts will need to be replaced, parts will improve with practice.

That's a scary thought.

Cathleen