An article this a.m. (March 10th, 2005) in the Washington Times entitled " Delay wants bill on illegals linked to Iraq spending" by Stephen Dinan (Nation Section, A3) is an example of why I do not pay to much attention to the major newspapers or alphabet soup of tv news shows. I don't blame the author (although he should have done his research) as much as I do those pushing the bill who claim to be conservatives for not being completely honest in what the bill would actually do. The article and the supporters of the bill only focuses on the illegal alien angle and not on the broader ramifications of the bill. According to James Plummer, policy analyst for the Liberty Coalition, the bill (H.R. 418) would create a tri-national id (U.S./Canada/Mexico) by linking country drivers license databases, it would would further federalize the state issued id's and it would allow for the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine at will the type of biometrics required for state id's. Forget a picture, why not DNA? How about adding RFID's to the id's for 'security' purposes? I understand that Virginia is considering adding them to VA licenses. Why? So, they can track you every where you go! This bill just continues the long tradition of the federalization of life as we know it in general and in particular the creation or I should say the further development of a national id. Illegal aliens, undocumented workers or what ever one calls people here in the country 'illegally' is an issue to be addressed but not by creating a national id and by empowering the federal government to control more and more of our life. The American people should not be punished for the failures of the border patrol, INS and the federal governments failed border control policies. On the contrary, if the conservatives where true to their philosophy of limited government and individual freedoms, they would push to abolish all need for creating national identification cards and systems. They would also repeal all the anti-autonomy laws that set the stage for national id's and data base tracking systems.

Michael D. Ostrolenk
mostrolenk@comcast.net