Monthly Archives: September 2008

Our new website had a “white page/error message” problem. Now it’s fixed! Please give it a try.
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:::QUOTES OF THE DAY:
:::“The legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security was very specific on the question of a national ID card. They said there will be no national ID card.” – Tom Ridge
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:::”I was very protective as governor of my prerogatives in the federal system. One thing I never liked from the federal government were unfunded mandates, or the federal government telling me how to run Pennsylvania.” – Tom Ridge
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:::SUBJECT: Real ID, Expensive and Unnecessary
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:::The remarks above, by then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, were made in September, 2004. They seemed to rule out something like Real ID. But Ridge did go on to say that he was working with governors to develop some “basic standards” for drivers’ licenses, and that he wanted uniform identification for workers in security-sensitive fields.
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:::But the drift of his comments suggested a collaborative process, not an unfunded mandate.
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:::Ridge retired from public service shortly thereafter and was replaced by Michael Chertoff, co-author of the Patriot Act. The following May, the REAL ID Act was attached to a “must-pass” Iraq bill, and passed without debate.
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:::Real ID would standardize state drivers’ licenses to make a de facto National ID card. Chertoff envisions it to be used to “cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane or engage in countless other activities.” http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/636479.html
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:::Real ID is also an expensive unfunded mandate. Homeland Security optimistically projects that

We’re pleased to announce that our new website is up and running on the new servers. The “white page/error message” problem is solved. Please give our new website a try.
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:::Quote of the day:
:::“You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats, procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.”
:::- Thomas Sowell
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:::Subject: Procedural Matters
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:::This message is about procedural matters. Why? Because Procedure matters.
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:::* The budget rules of the House and Senate are such that the federal government is guaranteed to be larger with each passing year.
:::* The political rules are such that every single crisis results in a hastily passed law, with no regard for Constitutionality or cost.
:::* The rules of state are such that the politicians and power-brokers DON’T pay a price for their mistakes — neither for passing ineffective or destructive laws, nor for busting the budget. In fact, saying “Yes” to more spending and new laws always benefits them, and saying “No,” can cost them support.
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:::How do we change these rules? You’ve heard it said, “The devil is in the details.” Yes, the devil, because if you try talking about the budget process or the legislative process you’ll divide folks along partisan lines, or worse, bore people to sleep.
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:::How can we unite people to care about procedure?