[clue-talk] national ID card

[dennisjperkins at comcast.net]

I remember people in the 70's being proud that the US did not have a national ID card, like communist countries and Nazi Germany.  The fact that we did not have one was regarded as a sign that we were the free-est nation on Earth.  Times have changed.

Why did these countries have national ID cards?  Partly to restrict travel.

What benefits does it offer the individual that we do not have no?  Probably none.  What hassles does it create?  The Bush regime wants to forbid you from flying without one and prevent you from getting a bank account.  On a more mundane level, what happens when you move?  Do you need to inform the govt about it?

How easily could they be forged?  How much more trouble could this cause for identity theft?  How long to recover your identity with the federal government involved, when they can't even handle passports and other things now?  I know that their plan is to have the states pay for everything, but how do you fix a mistake in a national database?