REAL ID - Be Careful What You Ask For

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Dave Williams

Buried in an $82 billion military spending bill and passed without any congressional debate in May 2005, the Real ID Act  was touted as anti-terrorist and immigration reform bill.  The bill does little to prevent terrorism, but goes a far way in compromising people’s privacy and could cost states up to $27 billion, yes billion with a “B.”

One of the leading supporters of the bill, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), argued about the need for such legislation.  In fact, the state of Wisconsin raised taxes by $22 million to pay for the unfunded mandate.  Something funny happened on the way to the enactment of the mandate:  states complained, while some opted out of the program, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.  So, recognizing the need to find more time, the Department of Homeland Security decided to give states more time to comply, as long as 2018.

So what to do with the extra money (sarcasm alert: over payment of taxes is not extra money) raised by the state?  Well, the state of Wisconsin decided to use the money to balance their budget.  Rep. Sensenbrenner was incensed (would that make him Rep. Incensenbrenner?) and claimed “a breach of faith with the people of Wisconsin” and called it a “fiscal shell game.”

Is this the ultimate form of hypocrisy? Nah, not really.  Truth be told, Rep. Sensenbrenner does know a thing or two about breaches of faith and fiscal shell games.  He was the author of the Real ID Act, probably the biggest fiscal shell game in American history.

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Filed under: REAL ID, State Issues

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3 Responses to “REAL ID - Be Careful What You Ask For”

  1. marylandterps, on May 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm Said:

    Correction: Wisconsin’s tax increase was $22 Million, not $22 Billion, which is still an unnecessary increase.

  2. Dave Williams, on May 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm Said:

    Thanks for catching that! Maybe I have been in DC too long ;)

  3. Ray J. Acosta, Sr., on May 21st, 2008 at 2:36 pm Said:

    All three of the front runners for president are for “ILLEGAL AMNESTY”!!
    But I can’t understand why any republican (Mc Cain) would want to push that bill.
    Doesn’t he realizre that 12 million illegal immigrants will “ALL” vote Democrat? That’s why the Democrats want so badly to have this bill passed. That would be enough extra voters to completely do away with the Republican Party!! Why do you think Hillary was pushing the issue so fervently. She would have been a shoe in for sure.
    Wake up America!
    Barack Obama would have all the women in this country wearing sacks over their heads if he had the power. He couldn’t care less about America.
    Hillary? Talk about starved for power! She’s got it bad! She is bought and paid for by special interest groups. No hope for us there.
    John McCain? What a joke! You’re looking at another Jimmy Carter. McCain reminds me of a deer in the headlights. Doesn’t have a clue. Being a POW doesn’t qualify you for the presidency! Such a foolish notion.
    We had a great candidate (Dr. Ron Paul) running for president and the media did everything in it’s power to smother his publicity!
    Now instead of voting for the best person to do the job, we must choose between the lesser of the evils!

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