Chertoff: ID must comply to fly

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Homeland security officials on Friday hinted at a possible face-saving deal to end their standoff with a handful of states over new driver's license rules — a dispute that, left unresolved, could cause big air travel headaches.

For weeks, the Homeland Security Department has been headed toward a showdown with some states over a law called Real ID, which would require new security measures for state-issued driver's licenses. Yet a late Good Friday letter from a top DHS official suggested Washington may be backing away from a messy fight.

.. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had warned that if holdout states do not send a letter by the end of March seeking an extension, come May, residents of such states will no longer be able to use their driver's licenses as valid ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.

... Yet hours after Chertoff sent those letters Friday, DHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker wrote to the attorney general of Montana, saying that even though the state was explicitly not seeking an extension, it would be granted one anyway. Baker reasoned the state's new license security measures already met many of the Real ID requirements anyway.

... If the two sides can't cut a face-saving deal, Chertoff has offered a blunt warning to those critics who claim the government is bluffing. "Showing up at the airport with only a driver's license from such a state will be no better than showing up without identification," he wrote to the senators. "No doubt this will impel many to choose the inconvenience of traveling with a passport."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080322/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/secure_driver_s_licenses_4

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Fuck 'em... I'll drive...

...and I'm a licensed pilot.;)

[wolfgangmo]

11. Fuck 'em - I'll drive too

But if it comes to that I will pack up my family and move to Canada. I am still a Canadian citizen and despite living here for over 20 years my family has said that they will be the first ones packing the car. I hope things will improve in the US but if not I need to move north and organize the only functioning democracy in north America to resist. Canadian need to build a big fucking fence to keep GW and the rest of his koolaid drinking herd south of the 49th.

FYI, despite what the NRA keeps harping about Canada, most Canadians are armed to the teeth. They just don't have a lot of hand guns. Just thought certain elements in the US gov't should know in case they are thinking too much about all that oil, food, and clean water.

Author cracks his knuckles and looks around menacingly.

[saigon68]

25. Yes, ole "SKELETOR" is rattling his bones

He certainly is following the dictates of his handlers.

[sarcasmo]

20. I agree, we drive to Florida every year, FUCK these NAZI ASSHOLES.

[Warpy]

2. The first act of any incoming president needs to be to

abolish that sad excuse for an antiterrorism agency. Let everyone in it reapply for jobs in the FBI or FEMA, depending on their area of expertise, if any.

Jerkoff is a fascist and being humiliated at the airport doesn't make me feel a bit safer. It is costing my state a fortune in tourist dollars.

[Angleae]

4. FEMA has expertise?

Could have fooled me.

[Hekate]

6. It used to be run by proud professionals...

It's pretty telling that after the Drowning of New Orleans, some of the old-timers at FEMA actually wept when they were interviewed about their agency's decline under Brownie.

Hekate

[Bluenorthwest]

21. I knew a few

Who left in advance of Brown, and laid out exactly what was going on, and were proved right by Katrina. Heroic people who could have no part of it.

[Demeter]

12. Sure! There's Nothing Like Them for F**king It Up!

The 3 Stooges would be proud.

[aquart]

8. Has anyone asked about that?

[Gormy Cuss]

9. I'm really surprised they haven't been able to implement the full body scanner machines.

The compliant flying public seems willing to do anything that the pea brains at DHS envision.

Is this crap even on the radar for our candidates?

[lligrd]

3. Fine, I'll Drive

Planes aren't safe with this administration's incompetence anyway. And my privacy is more important than my desire to travel. Time to just say, "hell no," to this administration.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Deregulation in aviation has made things more unsafe...

...look at Southwest Airlines.

[remember2000forever]

13. Deregulation was the Death Nell For Aviation

Years Ago, people actually were wined and dined on Airlines. If you couldn't afford the Airline Fare, there was an adequate Train alternative. The American Train System is now abysmal, and so are our Airlines.
"No Frills" service was born to Aviation in the late 70's. Your Airline fare was discounted by not purchasing a meal on board the aircraft. As new Start-Up Airlines continued to blossom around the country under deregulation, Solid Middle Class employees of the Major Airlines continued to be squeezed in their benefits and working hours. What we have left, is a complete mess. So many choices, yes, but so little service.
In the early 90's, why didn't the government bail out Pan Am? It was our flag carrier and represented our National Airline. With deregulation, that premise was impossible. So is everyone enjoying your current airline experiences now? AND, the Fares just "ain't that cheap" anymore, are they? So while the new masses suffer under this over-bloated system, the Corporate Jets now, are "wined and dined".

[merwin]

26. Planes are still the safest form of travel, even with this administration.

Just a little less safe than they used to be.

[Scairp]

7. This is completely stupid

The only reason that Chertoff is pushing so hard for this program to be completed is because he will be gone next January, and he wants to leave a mark, even if it's a black one, on the government before he's out. This program is not Constitutional, and will affect my family adversely, as my husband travels a great deal for business. He flies at least 4-5 times a year on business trips, not to mention the trips we were planning to take as a family. We live in California, and though I wouldn't mind, driving to New York would be extremely hard and very time consuming. Plus, my husband is British, so I'm not sure what they would do with him if he showed up at the airport with his British passport or his green card as his ID. He might be given a hard time, despite the fact that he has lived here for going on 30 years. I really hope this Real ID nonsense has the kibosh put on it as it is a violation of state's rights, and it won't make air travel any safer, IMO. It only inconveniences law abiding citizens, pretty much what all these so-called security measures have done since Sept. 11. I can't see anything stopping a suicide terrorist if they are that determined to get on a plane and use it to commit a hostile act on this country. No doubt those kinds of people are working hard to get around new security at the airports as our government is making our lives more difficult when trying to fly.

[RadioactiveCarrot]

10. Lot of states to fly in the face of.

No pun intended.

http://www.realnightmare.org/news/105/

Very unpopular and with good reason.

[Summer93]

14. Data breaches

With all the millions of data breaches happening to Americans these days any terrorist has their pick of identities to pick from. Here in N.E. a grocery store chain just went public that anyone who used either a credit or debit card at any of their stores now has a crisis on their hands as the data of all stores has been breached. Get it - this is a problem for the individual not really a problem for the stores.

Homeland Security doesn't seem to think that this is part of the security issues they need to look into. This is just the little people. Our country couldn't be attacked by a person who is stealing credit card data from all the stores that people use on a daily basis. :sarcasm:

[AllyCat]

15. What happened to the Repuke mantra of local control?

Guess along with "less government" and "fiscal responsibility" went "states' rights".

[GTurck]

16. Back to square one....

I don't intend to get a passport just to fly - occasionally. There is no place that I need to be in hours instead of days.
On another thread someone suggested ignoring a subject often repeated on DU and perhaps the greatest thing we could do is shun the airlines. Surely most people could make a temporary sacrifice in their travel for a few days. The corporations in this country badly need a wake-up call on their hubris and self-serving behavior and so does our (what used to be our) government.

[dreyer]

17. Fuck-em I'll drive also

Homeland Protection fucks are worthless. We pay these welfare assholes with borrowed money from China to take away our rights. Fuck'em, give me MY money back, and MY freedoms, I'll protect myself.

[mainer]

18. "Real ID": one-stop shopping for Identity thieves

Now we know that lowly government contractors can rifle through our passport files. So which government contractors will they be hiring to manage our "Real ID" files? Which lowly contract employee (with ties to the mob, say?) will be stealing our personal data and selling it to the highest bidder?

[Ilsa]

19. Talk about inviting a recession.

This will lead to more people not bothering with flying. Airlines will be decreasing the number of flights available as the flying population falls, and more people will be laid off. Fearmongering is ruining every aspect of this nation and making cowards out of Americans.

[calimary]

22. FDR wouldn't recognize this country now.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Man - talk about something being a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

[pitohui]

23. it's simply a badly written headline, you don't need REAL ID to fly domestically

you don't need any ID, what you need to do if you don't possess acceptable ID is to show up at the airport early enough to give time to go through a secondary screen

happens every day because people show up at the airport for any number of good reasons for not having an acceptable ID -- purse was snatched, pocket picked, they lost it, they didn't realize it expired while they were traveling (expired driver's licenses are not valid ID for some reason by TSA ruling), so on and so forth

if you don't want to get a passport and your state is not in compliance, just go to the airport a little earlier and go thru secondary screening

you'll fly, the claim that you won't be allowed to fly is completely bogus and put there simply to scare the unknowledgeable

[depakid]

24. I think states should call their bluff