— In response to the column, "Rejecting Real ID a costly move" (March 7) by Stewart Baker, I believe that the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for policy is stirring up murky rhetoric to cloud the pool of information concerning Real ID.

Despite Mr. Baker's insidious claims, Real ID is a threat to Mainers' privacy as well as their pocketbooks.

Mr. Baker claims that the costs of implementing Real ID (an unfunded federal mandate) will not be as onerous as many states fear because the federal government may be able to shoulder some of the compliance costs. Don't hold your breath.

The assistant secretary follows this fiscal placation with the allegation that issues of privacy are fictitious because the "(Real ID) law will not create a national database."

By reading the actual text of Public Law 109-13 (the Real ID Act), it becomes clear that Mr. Baker's contentions are at best confused statements, and at worst outright deceptions: "To be eligible to receive any grant or other type of financial assistance made available under this title, a state shall participate in the interstate compact regarding sharing of driver license data."

The compact, which the Real ID Act calls the "Driver License Agreement," would force states to provide access to "information contained in the motor vehicle databases of all other states."

The Real ID will force states to create a de facto national database in order to receive any federal assistance. Looks like a national database, walks like a national database.

Bernie Huebner

Waterville

 

 

Stewart Baker's column is typical of the Bush/Cheney administration's tactic for calling things it wants the opposite of what they actually are.

Baker, like other members of this administration, relies on the half-truths, distortions and outright lies to trample the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

His column included misleading claims that "illegal immigrants who aren't even state residents" currently qualify for Maine driver's licenses, and that future Oklahoma City bombings and 9/11 attacks can be averted by Real ID.

Mr. Baker said Real ID is not a national ID card -- because licenses will be issued by each state. However, states will be agents only, doing what the federal government wants in exactly the format it demands. The resulting Real ID card could just as well be signed by any federal bureaucrat.

The Real ID Act does not protect anyone from anything. It is just another power grab, centralizing information and authority in the federal government. Real ID gives up state and personal rights, which federal bureaucrats will never give back, even in a more liberal administration.

American civil liberties have been constantly eroded for the last seven years. We must resist Real ID, as the limits of tyrants and bureaucrats are established only by our resistance to their power grabs.

Mr. Baker notes that Maine is one of the few holdouts among the states. Maine's motto is "Dirigo" or "I Lead." It is time for Maine to lead the states in resisting Real ID.

David A. Lourie

Cape Elizabeth

 

 

This column from a Washington bureaucrat contains several inaccuracies: First, he says the law "will not create a national database." This is misleading, because while technically true, all the state databases will be linked so that the effect will be exactly the same. Second,how ridiculous to turn the facts around and say that identity theft will be less of a problem with Real ID.

One reads daily about instances where this or that federal agency has lost a laptop with thousands of people's Social Security numbers on it. It is just too easy.

Do we really want the central government to have copies of our birth certificates and other primary data that establishes who we are?

Think about the 120,000 American citizens who happened to be Japanese and were herded into concentration camps in the American Southwest during World War II.

Real ID is a mistake we don't need, a waste of money, and it is an invasion of privacy -- not to mention a real headache for older folks and legal immigrants who will have trouble coming up with all the documents needed.

Jacob Gerritsen

Camden

 

 

I agreed with Stewart Baker on one point in his column: Identity theft is a major problem in the United States.

How Orwellian of Mr. Baker, though: He suggests that putting our most sensitive personal information into a centralized database system makes us more secure from identity theft.

That's hard to believe, given the federal government's track record in protecting private data.

From the Veterans Affairs Department to the Transportation Security Administration, one federal agency after another has compromised our personal security by losing or accidentally publishing huge amounts of personal information about Americans.

Of course, Mr. Baker is reluctant to admit the fact that the law requires a centralized database system, but that's precisely what it does.

The law requires Maine to "provide electronic access to all other states to information contained in the motor vehicle database of the state." See Section 202(d)(12) (the entire law is available through www.realnightmare.org). So a breach of security in, say, Florida means that every state's information is vulnerable -- which is precisely the concern raised by privacy advocates and blithely dismissed by Mr. Baker as "fiction."

Real ID is a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Congress should repeal it now. I applaud the actions of Gov. Baldacci in standing up to a misguided effort to institute a national identity card and am disappointed by Sen. Susan Collins' failure to do the same.

Kelly McDonald

Portland