Editorial: Real ID Act an outlandish, bureaucratic boondoggle

We're all for combating terrorism and asking ordinary citizens to do their part to protect the country, but the Real ID Act, which is scheduled to take effect next year, is over the top.

Starting in May 2008, Nevadans will have to present a birth certificate and Social Security card in order to get a driver's license. Women whose names have changed because they got married will be saddled with the additional burden of presenting a marriage license.

So if you think your last visit to the DMV was unpleasant, next year's appointment may be a nightmare. Imagine the chaos that will follow the more than 1 million individuals who will show up at DMV offices around the state to renew their licenses if they even have a birth certificate and Social Security card and remember to bring it. If you don't already have these documents, it might be a good idea to start making arrangements to get them now if you want to drive a car or get on an airplane next year.

This outlandish legislation was hidden in the 2005 federal appropriations bill that funded Hurricane Katrina relief and the Iraq war. It is strange coming from a political party that prides itself as the champion of smaller government and less bureaucracy.

Not only is the Real ID Act intrusive and unnecessary, it crosses the line into the realm of paranoia. Like the strip searches at the airport, which make some people feel safer without really reducing the threat of terrorism, we can't imagine how making people show up at the DMV with a birth certificate, Social Security card and marriage license is going to stop some lunatic from hijacking an airplane or blowing up a building. More likely it is going to be little more than a bureaucratic boondoggle and huge inconvenience for millions of law-abiding citizens, some of who will be penalized through no fault of their own. Think of all the instances in which you need to show a driver's license and the consequences if you could not do so.

Thankfully, two Nevada legislators plan to do something about this unfunded mandate. State Sen. Dennis Nolan and Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson have requested a resolution to oppose the Real ID Act of 2005, according to an Associated Press story. The resolution joins active legislation in a dozen other states that is opposed to the measure.

The cost of compliance in Nevada would be about $66 million over the next four years, according to the AP.

Perhaps more troubling than the sheer foolhardiness of this mandate are the underlying attitudes of racism toward illegal aliens, lack of respect for personal privacy and outright paranoia. Such attitudes foisted on the American public on a wide scale are far more draconian than the acts they are designed to prevent.