Senator Chuck Schumer wants to amend the immigration bill to require you to get a new Social Security card with biometric information imbedded in it. Creating this new card would . . .
* Cost $9 billion (before the usual government cost over-runs)
* Require the Social Security administration to hire an additional 60,000 employees
* Require you to spend time getting the new card
* Require you to give the central government sensitive personal information
In the past only criminals had to supply the state with things like fingerprints, DNA, or retinal scans. Now, if Schumer gets his way, law abiding citizens will have to do it too, just for the privilege of earning a living. Meanwhile . . .
The people this card is supposed to control will continue to live underground, work on the black market without papers, or forge documents. The real control will be over you, not them.
So why does Schumer want this Biometric Social Security card on top of the REAL ID?
It could be because the REAL ID Act is in big trouble and the politicians are looking for an alternative that doesn’t require the cooperation of state governments. After all . . .
New Hampshire just voted to NOT COOPERATE with the REAL ID requirement!
This New Hampshire decision is a big victory for our side, but a real challenge to Big Brother politicians like Schumer. Biometric Social Security cards may soon take the place of the REAL ID, unless we stop the whole thing dead in its tracks, right now.
This Biometric Social Security card is evidence that the politicians are going to come at us from all angles. If they can’t come in through the door (REAL ID), then they’ll try to come in through a window (Biometric Social Security cards). We need to use the same tactic to defeat this tactic, fighting fire with fire.
We need to attack these Big Brother proposals from all angles. That’s why we’re devoting the entire week to defeating the immigration bill. We need for you to send a new message about this each day. Every message will ask the Senate to oppose the immigration bill as a whole. But then . . .
In your personal comments we want to ask you to add a specific objection — a different one for each day. Yesterday we asked you to tell your Senators that . . .
You’ve heard rumors that earmarks are being offered in return for voting yes on the immigration bill, and you’re going to be very ANGRY if that turns out to be true. If you sent this message yesterday, thank you. If you did not, please do so now HERE.
Today, send another message, and use your personal comments to ask your Senators to oppose Senator Schumer’s Biometric Social Security Card amendment. You can do so HERE.
Tomorrow we’ll be back with another message for you to send on this issue. In the meantime, could we ask you to put in a little extra effort today, and also send a message calling for the repeal of the REAL ID Act. Tell them you know New Hampshire has refused to participate, and you think it’s time to just repeal REAL ID entirely. You can send that message HERE.
This is important because the more objections the Senate receives to national ID card schemes the more likely it is that the REAL ID Act will be repealed, that provisions related to it will be stripped from the immigration bill, and that Schumer’s Biometric Social Security Card amendment will also be defeated.
You can send your “Repeal the REAL ID Act” message HERE.
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 
June 19, 2007 at 08:41
think of the benefits this would do.
Everything will have opposition to it — but now just think about all the positives.
Its funny how people want to live in the luxury of the freedoms our militarydies to preserve but civilians dont seem to want to do their share and give up some of their own.
This would mean. 1) anyone caught without a biometric card would be easily dealt with–you dont belong here–bye!!! Illegals and terrorists alike 2) crimes committed with DNA left behind would easily be linked to the guilty party. 3) its a means of bringins some sort of organization to this mess that we have, where organization is needed.
NOW, protection of the data is an entirely different concern.
But people are to lazy and self centered to want to protect their freedom of what this time? and they blame it on big brother who they seem to think is always after them.
Well, unless you have given up your freedom for your country, how can you demand freedom from it!!!!
We should all help strengthen our country and do our part, and if that means giving up a few freedoms that we only argue on principal then thats somethign we should all be willing to do. Else you cannot truly call yourself a patriot!!!
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June 19, 2007 at 14:58
The previous commenter shows a disdain for limited government and the spirit of the Bill of Rights.
His thinking is so backward that unless you welcome a massive increase in government power, an undermining of federalism and the 4th amendment, the ability to track Americans in real-time, an erosion of the presumption of innocence, increased ability to enforce arbitrary rules, and a federal “up-or-down decision” to earn money– you are not a patriot.
If there is a large number of people who think this way, I should no longer wonder why we are in the mess we’re in.
If it’s not freedom, Just what is our military fighting for?
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June 21, 2007 at 08:15
My son is an Airborne Ranger that is against this thing. He has, and is fighting for our freedom. So, somehow he is not a patriot?
I agree JRush.
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June 24, 2007 at 06:17
Good luck old bean, sadly, I don’t think a message from across the pond will help any…
I heard that the management where I was working was bringing a biometric time tracking machine – I voiced my objections and said that I’d stick to them. No surprises for guessing I didn’t last long after that…
The more information the government has the more it can go wrong – I’m thinking of a case that Hunter S. Thompson took on where a lass in the back of a police car, in custody, was ‘proved’ guilty for a murder that was committed whilst she was in the police car, because she had ‘no alibi’…
I did not believe that the information on system would be ‘police free’ in that if they found out something had gone down close to the place of work the police could gain access to the database and if an employee’s thumbprint was near the crime scene and he had no alibi… it would allow for lazy policing and sloppy detection work, amongst other things and so I support your fight.
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June 24, 2007 at 07:43
The Lauri Aumen case was based upon the “Felony Murder” statute that many states have on the books. I was also against keeping her in prison for the acts of another person when she had no control over the situation.
Check the archives at The Rocky Mountain News for full coverage. She is no longer in prison by the way.
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July 12, 2007 at 18:32
Well, it is more efficient than cloth badges or tatoos.
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July 14, 2007 at 05:51
Well, now, a tattoo would of course be permanent…
Thanks for the info regarding the Lauri Aumen case, but I was aware of that – I do think it is sometimes important to remind folk of the ‘Well, if you’ve got nothing to hide’ syndrome of these cases though…
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