My guess is they figure keeping it on ice for now by extending the deadline will let them push it through later after a terrorist incident, a la the "Patriot" Act. Let's keep the pressure on to kill this fascist national ID plan permanently so it doesn't later come back from the dead.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
ID Plan Is Broadly Criticized
Bipartisan Objections Cite Security, Costs and Privacy
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 12, 2008; A02
A new Bush administration plan to create national
standards for driver's licenses drew heavy criticism
yesterday from civil liberties groups, some Republican
and Democratic lawmakers, governors, and the travel
industry.
The critics said the new licenses anticipated under
the plan, which is aimed at screening out potential
terrorists and uncovering illegal immigrants, could
still be forged. They also complained that the
program, known as Real ID, would be costly for states
to implement, potentially restrict summer travel, and
allow private companies access to the personal data of
most U.S. citizens.
But they also welcomed yesterday's official
announcement that states have until May 2011 before
they need to begin issuing licenses that meet the
department's new guidelines, and until December 2014
to begin replacing current licenses. Drivers over the
age of 50 will not have to obtain new licenses until
the end of 2017.
The deadline extensions give both Congress and future
presidents time to reconsider what opponents have
depicted as a national identification system that will
infringe on privacy rights and leave room for
large-scale identity theft.
"DHS has kicked the can down the road to the next
administration, and conceivably the next two or three
administrations," said Barry Steinhardt, a lawyer with
the American Civil Liberties Union. Already, 17 states
have said they would either refuse to issue the new
licenses or have asked Congress to repeal a 2005 law
that required states to collect and store additional
data on driver's license applicants, such as birth
certificates, Social Security numbers and home
addresses.
Under Real ID, all new licenses would be
machine-readable and contain personal information that
could be scanned by governments and potentially by
corporations.
At a news conference yesterday, Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff said the guidelines
represent a balance between security and privacy in
accordance with the Real ID Act. He warned that
residents in states such as Georgia and Washington,
which have refused to comply with the program, may be
subject to additional security checks or prevented
from boarding flights once the program begins this
spring.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011103410_pf.html