Fw: Don't let them pass the PASS Act

[Fred B. Ellison]

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h Quote of the Day: "Security is mostly superstition." -- Helen Keller   Subject: Don't let them pass the PASS Act   The American people have rejected the REAL ID Act, and the national ID card it would create. The politicians claim they can fix REAL ID by replacing it with something called the PASS ID, to be enacted by the PASS Act, S. 1261.   The PASS Act is a fraud. PASS ID is REAL ID by another name. Jim Harper at the Cato Institute has done a fabulous job of dissecting all the frauds involved in the PASS Act. If you care about the details then we highly recommend that you read his short analysis.   We're going to focus on just one detail here. One fear about REAL ID is that you would need it to have a job, or do anything really. But what if you were denied a REAL ID because of mistaken information or some bureaucratic blunder? Think, for instance, of all the non-terrorists who have ended up on the terrorist watch list. In that case...   You would become a non-person.   To address this concern the PASS Act would enable you to access and change your own personal information. Sounds good, right, but think again...   What you can access to change, others can access to steal. In fact, a terrorist could probably do it, and maybe even get a PASS ID with which to commit a terrorist act using your identity.   In other words, a REAL ID, or a PASS ID, which we supposedly need in order to protect us from terrorism, could actually become a tool for terrorists. This is what happens when politicians and bureaucrats try to devise vast, complex, top-down schemes to protect us from every conceivable danger and problem. Such ambitions are utopian and ultimately harmful.   We agree with the late great Helen Keller, who again provides our quote of the day (we have used this one before, and we'll use it again): "Security is mostly superstition."   It's a simple fact -- the world is full of dangers, and we'll never be rid of them all. We must focus our efforts to protect ourselves on the things that really matter. Some dangers are significant, but most are not. We assert that...   The danger posed by terrorism is probably temporary and extremely insignificant compared to other risks we face daily, like lightening strikes, automobile accidents. and warring drug gangs. By contrast...   Huge, and permanent, dangers are posed by centralized, government databases and national ID cards. Any such scheme will ensnare all of us in endless complications, many of which we cannot now imagine.   Tell your congressional employees to repeal the REAL ID Act and reject the PASS Act.   Use your personal comments to point out that the drive for an electronic national ID system is inherently contradictory, because measures to protect citizens from being harmed by the system will make it easier for terrorists to exploit the system, while attempts to protect the system from terrorists will end up harming innocent citizens.   To exceed the 43,290 messages we sent last month we need to send at least 1,874 messages today. You can send your message at DownsizeDC.org's "Repeal REAL ID" campaign page.   Please also Digg this message on our blog, so more people will see it and take action.   If this issue really concerns you, please also consider taking extra action through our "I Am Not Afraid" campaign.   Thank you for being a part of our growing Downsize DC Army. To see how fast we're growing please check out the Keeping Score section below my signature.   Perry Willis Communications Director DownsizeDC.org, Inc.   KEEPING SCORE We've grown by 413 net new members since our last detail report. This brings us to 2,169 net new members for the year. The Downsize DC Army now stands at 26,525 -- over 52% of the way from 26,000 to 27,000! YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting. We can also grow faster by doing more outreach to potential DC Downsizers. Please help us do this by starting a monthly credit card pledge -- it can be as low as $5 a month (which is just 17 cents per day). You can start your pledge using our secure online contribution form. Please let us know if its okay to advertise your support here: NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN JULY: ONE unlisted -- 1 total. FROM JUNE: Bryan L Anderson, Janet Rea, Timothy M. Dyer Jr, Kenny Harrill, Ryan Sharif, Katherine Durham, David C. 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