Originally Posted by
doober
So then how is REAL ID supposed to now keep us safer if the birth certificates required to get a REAL ID-compliant DL are "hard to verify?"
National Travel License/ID, Comrade.
By the way, Chertoff is complaining about Congressional oversight:
Originally Posted by USAToday
He said it's not fair for Congress to criticize his department for failing to secure the borders, and then prevent him from taking steps to do just that. "That's making a piņata out of the Department of Homeland Security," he said.
Link
No, Chertoff, YOU don't get it. You are a piņata and a laughing stock because of your draconian and misguided policies. YOU are not supposed to be at war with Congress and the American people, yet that's EXACTLY what you're doing. Ignore any good advice from the public or the people within your own ranks.
I heard on the radio today that Chertoff announced that all travelers from Europe will have to enter their information in advance on a DHS web site - duplicating the information that the airlines already collect and submit. If true, this effectively neuters the VWP, and gains NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING over the current process. It just hassles people.
I can see how this came down: "How do we eliminate the VWP?", "Duh, Boss, we can't do that, but we can require everybody to submit their information to us, then we can check the paperwork.", "Good work, Smedley, you deserve a big bonus for stopping terrorism".