Here is a link talking about the requirements....we fail the applicant requirements and we don't use a bar code or chip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act
Louisiana does notrequire an ID. What prevents Louisiana from being eligible is stupid as well. The actual ID is fine. The fact that the state doesn't keep the copies of the required documents (birth certificate, social security card, etc.) longer than the Feds want and have to maintain greater security surrounding the application process, including how driver's license photos are taken. Louisiana is one of several states that have taken the step of passing state legislation refusing to comply. They're taking this position because they claim it's too much like a national ID card. However, people are going to end up getting passports to fly or enter Federal Buildings. In essence, Louisiana (and the other states) will be forcing people to obtain a Federal ID in their protest to prevent people from being forced to carry a national ID card.
I do too and have several destinations on my bucket list if I ever get the opportunity. And while I agree and would get a passport if I indeed had that chance to travel outside of this country, I find it pretty stupid that in a few months i'll be forced to get one just to travel out to the Left coast to see my dad. Especially when my DL has always been more than sufficient in the past.
Agree. Travel changes people. This seems very much like a "Big Brother" move. Create (or add to) a national database containing info about the flight history and movement of US citizens/residents. Greater accuracy in enforcing "do not fly" lists, etc. All at the cost of a less privacy.
What privacy? We can be tracked by our mobile phones, our credit cards, our "Onstar", and our internet logins already. Public TV cameras monitor us constantly. Not just law enforcement agencies, but intelligence agencies, foreign intelligence agencies, targeting advertisers, and even teenage hackers. The sophisticated ones can do it in real time. We have no privacy as far as our public comings and goings, our spending history and locations, and where we surf. We can assume that all our email is scanned by multiple intelligence agencies. The privacy ship has sailed. The bigger issue now is homeland security, illegal immigration, identity theft, and identity-related fraud. If a National ID helps to accomplish all this and keeps me from having to carry a passport, then I'm all for it. I can't see a damn thing that would allow it to intrude more than what we already endure.
Of course it has. I have no delusions that privacy is still intact. But instead of the privacy ship being 9 miles away from the dock, it's now 10. Soon it will be 11. I know that privacy needs to be balanced with national security. But I really don't know where the balance should be struck. 11 miles? 12? At some point, I think we go too far.
