Comment by zainhoda
4 years ago
I think the mechanism is indirect. After 9/11, Congress wanted to make it difficult to falsify IDs. The optimization was to maximize the probability that an ID is real and correct if an ID is presented to board a plane. Unfortunately there’s was no constraint that the process shouldn’t prevent people from getting IDs or make it easy. Poor people don’t have enough of a voice for Congress to care.
Poor people are excluded via apathy not malice
I also know directly from people running state DMV offices (and also coincidentally or not, in the official GOP power structure) that there was a serious effort for drivers licenses from all states to be more standardized and validated by the process that became RealID.
This was around 1995-7, so 9/11 had zero infuence on the origin of this idea, although it likely helped provide justification for it.
That said, I find it mildly interesting that it took at least two decades to even begin to roll out from serious discussions in the corridors of power to actual changes affecting the drivers and voters.
I wonder if it took two decades because it was an unfunded rider to an Iraq war emergency spending bill added with next to no discussion in Congress. Yes, I'm annoyed, but I imagine the lack of enthusiasm many others shared at the time contributed to the dilatory implementation.
I'm pretty sure terrorists have access to both printers and the gimp. Requiring a mailed bill seems like it would only hinder people who are honest. I highly doubt terrorists are opposed to lying.
If you replace what GP wrote with:
> Congress wanted to pretend in front of the voters and the public that they were making it difficult ...
Then it makes sense
Apathy is the same as malice when done by politicians who are supposed to represent everyone, not just the 1% in their district/city/state
Actually poor people are well represented. Witness the trillions of dollars of debt the US is in, the countless duplicative entitlement programs subsidizing food, health care, housing, schooling, etc. Politicians don't get elected unless they give other people's money away to those who don't have it and the poor by definition do not have money to give away but they do vote. Sometimes like here a minor fraud prevention rule slips by like address corroboration but it quickly becomes obsolete because bureaucratic efficiency and modernism is not what government does best.
> Witness the trillions of dollars of debt the US is in,
Why do you assume that this debt went to the poor? There is quite a bit of evidence of welfare for the wealthy and large companies.
> the countless duplicative entitlement programs subsidizing food, health care, housing, schooling, etc.
Any figure for this? No mention of the stupidly large military spending or tax breaks?
You completely ignore multiple studies showing that in 80-95% of legislative actions, the action is the one favored by large corporations and NOT the action favored by people or poor people.
IOW, the US legislature is responsive to people and especially poor people only 5-20% of the time.