[Rictor]

The coffin of US democracy has been nailed shut.

What am I talking about? The United States Senate unanimously passed the $82 billion Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill, already approved in Congress, which includes the Real ID act driver's license reform.

Aside from the obvious implications of a national id program, which you can all pretty much guess at, the bill also authorized something else.

Here's the gem:

"No court shall have jurisdiction to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security, or order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or decision."

Read that again. See the problem?

That's right, there's an entire department of the US government, consisting of over 20 police and spy agencies, which is essentially above the law; any law. And this department is under the direct control of the Executive branch, with no oversight possible, because laws simply do not apply.

Now, not to sound like a panicker, but I'm wondering whether pretending like the Magna Carta, not to mention the US Constitution, never existed is really the way to a better future.

[Unknown Target]

Wow...

And national ID program? What's that all about?

[aldo_14]

I believe the drivers license program also gives the authorities carte blanche to expand the information held on said licenses - biometrics, DNA samples, etc

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/11/real_id_makes_terrorists_happy/

[q]
Soon it will be impossible to obtain government services, travel domestically by hired car, intercity bus, train, or plane, enter a building, open a bank account, pay by check, drink at a pub, enroll in school, or obtain insurance without having your unique federal ID card scanned at the gate. The potential for mission creep, and for mass data aggregation, is absolutely unlimited. DHS can decree that photographs are not enough; it may decide that it also wants fingerprints, iris scans, and DNA information encoded in the cards, and in its massive databases. And Congress has given it the power to decree that, and more.[/q]

This sort of thing is one of the main reasons I not only wouldn't consider working in the States (whereas I would in, for example, Australia or Canada), but also why I won't go on holiday there; it seems the whole places is going tits up rapid-style.

[Roanoke]

scarey stuff

[Rictor]

Wired has some additional info on the aftermath of the Real ID bill's passage.

[Black Wolf]

Holy ****. You guys are... so screwed. This is how it starts.

And quite frankly, that worries me a whole lot too...

[redmenace]

This is an assault on states rights as well. ****.

****ed in the ass by republican and democrats. And people honestly think one is better than the other.

Next we can start a national gun registry.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Roanoke
scarey stuff

Just wait until Darth Blunkett puts RFID in pension books........

[Knight Templar]

EPISODE III IS NOW! Aggh! We're all doomed!

[Rictor]

The reason this was able to pass at all is because politicians can attach riders at will. No one would dare vote against the Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill, so it's a free ticket to attach all sorts of unpopular bull**** which would never pass by itself.

It's a formula for diaster, and especially pork. Just package the fascist laws in with popular legislation, and voila - it passes.

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by redmenace
This is an assault on states rights as well. ****.

****ed in the ass by republican and democrats. And people honestly think one is better than the other.

Next we can start a national gun registry.

No. It was just the republicans - they slipped it into a "must pass" bill, that the democrats had no choice but to pass - the funding for the Iraq war.

[Rictor]

If they had a spine they wouldn't be funding the Infinite War in the first place. Their crime (this time) isn't belligerance, but simply lacking what people 'round these parts call "balls".

[vyper]

[q]unanimously passed[/q]

"So this is how liberty is destroyed, to the sound of applause" - Padme Amidala as Palpatine announces the conversion of the republic to empire.

[Unknown Target]

If any of the senators had voted against the bill, their careers would basically be over. They would be labeled "anti-American" and trying to deny our troops funds, and it would haunt them forever.
They were effectively blackmailed into passing the bill.

[Zarax]

Populism always gets to rape democracy....

[vyper]

All it takes for evil to flourish is for one good man not to stand up.

[Unknown Target]

Actually, I believe the quote was more like "All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing." Winston Churchill, correct?

[Kosh]

Originally posted by Rictor
If they had a spine they wouldn't be funding the Infinite War in the first place. Their crime (this time) isn't belligerance, but simply lacking what people 'round these parts call "balls".

Let me tell you a little story. There once was a democratic senator from georgia named max cleland (or however his last name is spelled. Max is a Vietnam veteran who lost both his legs and one arm saving his unit from an enemy grenade (I can't remember for certain, but he may have gotten a medal). Max lost the 2002 election to a republican who never served in the military. The reason he lost was because his opponent called him a coward for not supporting the invasion of Iraq. It was that one thing, and that one thing only.

[Nuke]

il be so glad when were finally a military dictatorship, then we can start invading things at will

[EtherShock]

Hmm, all we need is an emperor now. We should plan the rebellion.

It sounds like even the Supreme Court wouldn't be able to strike this down. That's very scary. I can't believe no one would stand up to this, not one person. That's hard to believe when this is something that can cause ripples throughout the country, and the method used to pass this is just despicable.