Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan This seems to come up every few years. The latest initiative is by Chuck Schumer (D) and Lindsay Graham (R) to create a national ID card people would carry to easily show they are legal to employ. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100330/us_time/08599197492700" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2...97492700</a> So, what do you think? For it or against it?
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 Against. It would be incredibly expensive to implement such a program and neither the government nor most small to mid-sized companies could afford it right now. Plus, I think that being forced to carry a biometric ID card in order to get a job is sort of creepy in an Orwellian, 1984 type of way. You know it would not take long for those cards to be required for things other than jobs.
Originally Posted By ecdc Very interesting. The trick is coming up with something effective in modern times (this biometric card sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie) without jeopardizing privacy. I mean, I recognize the need for something effective and we can't continue to act like we live in an anonymous, 19th century world anymore, but the thought of having an ID card with my fingerprint on it is creepy. And, technology is pretty imperfect. What happens when my card gets worn out from being in my wallet too long and won't read? I'm not opposed in principle to a national ID card, but it'd have to be done right. On the flip side, it'd be fun to watch tea bagger heads explode. I'm sure we'd hear about how "the first thing Hitler did was make people get National IDs!" They'd have no idea if that was true or not, but truth never was one of their strong suits.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 On this one, my first impulse is similar to those theoretical tea baggers. The thought of a biometric ID card IS kinda creepy somehow. It will take some convincing for me.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Against. It would be incredibly expensive to implement such a program >> The companies that are in the "hi tech" ID card business love putting this sales pitch up to government. They already rape taxpayers to the tune of billions of dollars a year for any number of cards used by federal employees. Putting all of America on a fancy ID card system is just a handout to corporate government contractors who overcharge us for these products. If the cards were designed, produced, and distributed by the government instead of profiteering contractors, I might be more inclined to consider it.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I agree with #5 - this sounds like a solution in search of a problem. Also, does anyone believe that the use of such a biometric ID card would be limited to its intended purpose? Can you imagine going to all the trouble to give every American and eligible foreign resident a biometric ID card, only to have it used on average a few times in a lifetime? That is, only when getting hired into a new job? We already have a near-universal national card that indicates the right to work: the Social Security Card. Couple that with a requirement to present a valid gov't photo ID (state Drivers License or ID card, or Passport), and an online check to make sure that these documents are valid (at a website that's already set up for this purpose and used by some employers today), and the problem is solved. No expensive multi-billion dollar, intrusive scheme needed. Rolling out the above requirements to all employers and enforcing violations solves 99.9% of the problem, which is probably higher than the proposed biometric program.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Rolling out the above requirements to all employers and enforcing violations solves 99.9% of the problem, which is probably higher than the proposed biometric program.>> Exactly, SD. Enforcing existing laws and heavily penalizing employers who continue to hire undocumented workers solves this problem. As SD pointed out, there is a web site already in place to verify the validity of SSA cards and driver's licenses and passports. Why do we need this added layer of identification? If employers were consistently fined $20K for every undocumented worker discovered in their employ, and an additional $100K for repeat violations, this problem would go away overnight. No employer would be willing to risk losing that much in fines for the chance to save a few dollars by hiring undocumented workers under the table.
