“He (Protack) also would require all residents over 16 years old to carry a state driver’s license, using the card to comply with federal Real ID regulations. If they don’t drive, “No Driving Privileges” would be printed on the license. Protack estimates the cards would cost about $20 million, but said illegal immigration costs Delaware $65 million a year in social services, education and other costs.

“How many illegal immigrants there are in Delaware nobody knows,” he said. “But the No. 1 obligation of the governor is the safety and security of the citizens. Part of that is making sure you know who is in your state and what they are doing.“

Actually, no. Read the 14th Amendment. It says you cannot take life liberty or property without due process from a “person,” and the use of the word was intentional as the word “citizen” occurred in the previous sentence. The courts have recognized this distinction since the 1870s.

So the crap-conservative line that non-Americans have no protections in the US under the Constitution is simply (oh my gosh, wait for it) not true.

You do realize this is already going happening? Mass surveillance, all communications being scooped up, permanently stored and analyzed> And this is why the telcoms wanted immunity, so we wouldn’t see how extensive it is?

Do you seriously think modern surveillance is about plugging a wire into the switchboard socket that goes to the bad guy’s house?

If the person is not an American citizen, they are not protected from the United States Constitution.

*bangs head on wall*

Hooray?

The problem is that Republican or Democrat, both parties are led by fiscal liberals. No tax and spend, is on equal footing with tax and spend. The problem is obvious, it’s the amount of spending.

For example, a law that says I can request all my records be purged from ChoicePoint, credit bureaus, or any other aggregators of my information.

It’s your choice whether or not to use credit. In this day and age of living above our means, borrowing money is certainly used to increase our standard of living to buy a flat screen, two cars in the driveway, and the 2,600 sq ft house with a picket fence. I’ll admit that it is certainly hard to obtain those goals without credit, but that’s a choice we all make for ourselves.

If you go out and get a short-term loan, which let’s face it that is exactly what a credit card is, that company should have every right to make sure that they are going to get their money back. If you don’t pay them their money back, it would simply be stealing.

So how do they know you’re being honest when you say that you will pay them their money back? They check to see if you’ve ripped anyone else off. Can you blame them? Certainly not. In fact you have probably told them it was perfectly acceptable to do just that, when you signed the waivers and releases in order to obtain your short-term loan.

So sure, we could make a law that prevents them from collecting data that says you borrowed money from someone, and then did not pay it back (which again is no different than stealing), even though you agreed to pay it back under a specific set of terms. The problem is that we can make that law, and that the consequence will be that nobody will be willing to lend money because they have no way of knowing if it will ever be paid back.

Or a reform that makes it illegal to use an SSN for anything other than Social Security transactions with the government. And on and on…

This is a huge personal gripe of mine. I hate giving my SSN out period, and I don’t even think they have the right to ask for it.

Or a law that says government or private comanies can’t do mass surveillance of private communications - oh wait, we already have that law.

If they are attempting to survey an American citizen, and they do not have a warrant/court order, it should be illegal. If the person is not an American citizen, they are not protected from the United States Constitution. That document is to be read in absolute terms, as it was intended, and specifically provides against illegal searches and siezures.

Oil drillers are moving up because there is more demand to bring oil to market. Their customers (Exxon, Conoco, BP, etc) are flooding them with money in the hopes of finding more oil to bring to market.

You and andy were saying that they are not reinvesting any money into drilling/exploration. That is not the case Perry.

I share your concern about totalitarian tendencies, especially when they happened with Nixon, and now have happened with Bush-43.

The balance of powers system we have took care of Nixon, but Bush-43 succeeded in subverting it with his takeover of Justice and lock-step GOP Congress, incredibly, while the Rush Limbaughs fed the propaganda machine to millions of unquestioning Americans.

If the people neglect to observe, then to have their say at the ballot box come November, then we deserve what we get, don’t we?

On the specific issue of identification, like fingerprinting, DNA printing, and photo ID’s, someone has to explain to me how having this information in the hands of the government can be an instrument leading to totalitarianism. I see these more as a tool for law enforcement, a good thing. Oversight is the key to prevent unauthorized behavior.

Regarding wiretapping/surveillance of overseas communications, I see this as a necessary evil in these times of terroristic threats. Please note that I insisted on Congressional and Justice oversight of the Executive Branch, with the caveat that Justice be moved back toward being apolitical, to the extent possible.

We must work to restore trust in government by putting people in office who are trustworthy. If too many of us simply don’t care, then again, we deserve what we get!