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Defeating National ID in Texas Crucial to Nation
By Mark Anderson
OFTEN OUR “NEWSPAPERS” tell us that Americans want higher taxes
because of their insatiable demand for government services.
That reminds me of a band that plays several George Strait songs in a row while claiming the audience “requested” those songs, even though nobody requested them. The band just has a favored music “agenda.”
There is a trash heap near my south-Texas residence for which I made the rare move of actually asking for a government service—requesting that the trash, which started as discarded branches, furniture pieces and even an old console TV, be hauled away because it was heaped along the street in an undesignated area. Soon, the pile included smelly household trash that blew all over the neighborhood.
The pile is still there after nearly two weeks. The problem with my idea of getting a government service is that I asked for it. Silly me; if I was like most people, I would just sit back until the next “service” is forced on me without my knowledge or consent. That is how things get done nowadays—absolute bald-faced force, combined with sly deception, against the people.
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Keep in mind that with most heavy issues afflicting America, the citizens are not making requests. No one requested the NAFTA Superhighway, known in Texas as the Trans-Texas Corridor. No Main Street American placed an order for big banks and financial figures to have their butts salvaged by the public. And it’s doubtful that regular citizens asked for the 2005 Real ID Act.
The Real ID Act, which was supposed to have been implemented in May 2008, is a federal law that has been beaten back by strong opposition. At least 17 state legislatures have since gone on record with laws and resolutions to oppose it, mainly because they don’t want to submit their function of issuing drivers licenses to federal direction. Such submission would result in a nationalized ID card that meets Department of Homeland Security guidelines—all based on 9-11 Commission advice to combat “terror”—so Americans can be identified and tracked like tagged pets, which would be made possible by remotely readable tiny chips embedded in the new national ID cards.
In a classic Soviet-style replay of “Your papers, please,” vehicle checkpoints and street cameras would match U.S. citizens with information stashed in databases to snoop on citizens at whim.
Moreover, in Corpus Christi, Texas, police have installed cameras that issue tickets to motorists by detecting the supposed offense, snapping a quick photo of the license plate and mailing the citation to the driver. One fellow Texan told me that a bright flash sometimes goes off when a picture is taken that can startle drivers and could cause an accident.
No one held a petition drive to demand that officials install such cameras. That is today’s America: You get what you do not request and do not get what you do request. You are used, not served. Thus, we “elect” our “representatives” who only want the people’s “consent” when it comes to voting for who will “serve” in office—assuming that the hackable electronic voting machines have not been rigged.
Almost everything else after election time is on autopilot. But the silver lining with the downtrodden economy is that more people, such as activist Sheila Dean of Austin and others AFP has interviewed, have more time to visit and monitor their state lawmakers and try to get them
Another notable anti-Real ID activist, Aaron Bolinger of Pennsylvania, outlines in detail how to write a model law for legislators and tell them on a practical level what you want and stick close to them, lest they fall prey to lobbyists. You literally have to draw them a picture.
In Texas, time is short to defeat Real ID on the state level. The buzz is that the town of Lubbock, the famous home of the late Buddy Holly, which is celebrating its 100th birthday, is where two Republican state representatives reside on opposite sides of the Real ID “fence.”
One is Real ID backer Delwin Jones; the other is opponent Carl Isett. Ms. Dean believes they could represent swing votes in the 150-member Texas House in a possible vote on House Bill 4036. If approved, that bill would make the huge Lone Star State a Real ID state. As of April 14, the bill was in the Public Safety Committee. The Texas Legislature meets for just a few months every other year, so this session will expire in late May or early June. The question is if the bill will pass the committee and make it to the House floor, where it could go to the Senate and onward to Gov. Rick Perry. Ms. Dean wants HB 4036 dead.
She doesn’t care how it gets dead. She just wants a stake through “Dracula’s heart.” To her, killing it in committee would be best, but if it must go to the House floor in Austin for a vote, then let’s see the roll call so each of these evasive “public servants” can reveal their guarded stances
on Real ID. This matter is pivotal nationally, too, since North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Utah also are taking action on Real ID. If those states say “no” to it, and if Texas lawmakers agree Real ID is a bad idea, then the number of states opposing Real ID may approach the “tipping point” of 25.
So, fellow lab rats, no matter where you live but especially if you live in Texas, seize the day and ask your lawmakers not to do you the disservice of making your state Real ID-ready. Ask kindly or unkindly that they opt out of Real ID; and remind them this task is best done on the basis of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which says that if the Constitution does not assign a given service or function to the federal government, then that function (such as issuing drivers licenses) is left to the states or the people. Notably, in Texas this concept is contained in a resolution, HCR 50, which has Gov. Perry’s support.
IMPORTANT CONTACTS:
For more information go to 511campaign.org, or call Ms. Dean at (512) 687-4069. Bolinger’s national conference call each Tuesday about the latest on Real ID is at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To listen or take part, call (724) 444-7444; enter 14259 then the pound (#) sign.
Also see www.nvcca.net, or restoretherepublic.net. To contact the clerk of the Texas Committee on Public Safety about HB 4036, call Paul Kemprath at (512) 463-0133. Reps. Carl Isett and Delwin Jones can be contacted at (512) 463-0676 and 463-0542, respectively. To obtain the text of HB 4036, call Kemprath or go to http://www.legis.state.tx.us/ online and enter the bill number. Tabs along the top include viewing the text.
Mark Anderson is a longtime newsman now working as a corresponding editor for American Free Press. Together he and his wife Angie provide many photographs of the events they cover for AFP. Mark welcomes your comments and inputs as well as story leads. Email him at at [email protected].
(Issue # 16 & 17, April 20 & 27, 2009)
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