Saturday, January 12, 2008

Ron Paul on National ID: No reason to sacrifice Liberty



They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
-- Benjamin Franklin




NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD BILL PASSES SENATE WITHOUT DEBATE
By A. Kronstadt

[July 2007]

One of the basic freedom issues that has united both left and right in the struggle against expanding governmental authority has been that of the National ID Card. Many European nations, particularly those with authoritarian histories such as Germany and the ex-communist bloc countries, have long required each citizen to carry some standardized national identification document that must be presented to the police on demand. We are all familiar with the motion picture stereotype of the Nazi or Soviet officer walking up to people and saying "your papers, please," but in the United States, people have traditionally regarded this as something we can all do without. We Americans definitely do not like the idea of needing something like a driver's license just to walk on the street, nor do we want cops asking us for a passport when we are traveling around our own country. Indeed, we are told that the Republicans and conservatives are the ones most vehemently opposed to this ultimate symbol of Big Government.

More on National ID
.
.

No comments: