Real ID Must Be Implemented By May 11
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There isn’t much current information about REAL ID despite that a major implementation benchmark for the law is scheduled occur in just two months.

The REAL ID Act requires state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to meet federal standards by a certain date in order to be accepted for federal purposes, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. The Department of Homeland Security sells REAL ID as a tool “to help prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents.”

States must now be in full-compliance by May 11, 2011. The penalties for residents in non-compliant states are pretty tame …, or not.

Those innocent, law-abiding citizens will not be able to use their driver’s license to board commercial aircraft, gain access to federal facilities or enter nuclear power plants.

Some Republicans Are Pushing for A National ID Card
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Earlier this week House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) and Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano encouraging her to fully implement the REAL ID Act of 2005.

According to FOX News, REAL ID has won support from many anti-immigration advocates because it requires driver’s licenses issued to immigrants to expire at the same time as their stay in the U.S. and therefore invalidates licenses of immigrants who overstay.

According to former Congressman Bob Barr, a privacy advocate, “A person not possessing a Real ID Act-compliant identification card could not enter any federal building, or an office of his or her congressman or senator or the U.S. Capitol. This effectively denies that person their fundamental rights to assembly and to petition the government as guaranteed in the First Amendment.”

Yet REAL ID is still being implemented. And it’s being implemented despite that half of the states in the country have opted out of REAL ID or have passed resolutions objecting to the national ID law. The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly extended the deadline and reduced the compliance bar to suggest progress on the national ID effort, according to the Cato Institute’s Jim Harper.

What Can Be Done to Stop REAL ID?
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H.R. 1 is the budget bill Republicans are pushing in the House. If passed, it would would fund the government from March 4 through the September 30. Congressman David Price, a Democrat from North Carolina, proposed Amendment #277 to add the following language to the FY 2011 spending bill:

“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for the implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-13).”

This Amendment may be the last opportunity to hit the REAL ID Act before it is thrust onto the American people. While many states have opted out, don’t be so sure that the federal government won’t ignore state opt-outs. It’s much easier for them to implement a national ID card if every state is forced into the plan.

Please ask your members of Congress to support Amendment 277 to H.R. 1. Once implemented, REAL ID will be required by employers to hire you and will restrict your ability to travel in “the land of the free”. It’s imperative that you contact Congress today on this important issue.

(A special thanks to Jim Harper for providing the details on this Amendment.)

Wisconsin RLC Praises Governor Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill
State RLC Congratulates Endorsed Legislators, Governor

Yesterday, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin, which has made state and national news as a result of several prominent events in their state over the past year, issued a statement supporting Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill.

Wisconsin RLC Chairman Michael S. Murphy of Milwaukee spoke in strong support of the repair bill. “The RLC-WI supports Governor Scott Walker and the Republican Legislation in their efforts to curtail runaway government spending. We also want to commend these brave lawmakers for standing strong against oppositional union forces, which have resulted in numerous threats to their safety already. The RLC-WI stands behind this effort 100% and we hope that not one Republican Legislator waivers in their decision to support this bill before it is made into law.”

Murphy continued, “We are especially proud of the seven RLC-WI endorsed State Representatives, who recently took office after winning their respective elections in November. They are truly upholding the RLC standard and keeping their committed promises to reduce government spending.” (Note: Wisconsin RLC Vice Chair Terri McCormick, who recently spoke at the RLC National Convention in DC, is herself a former three-term State Representative.)

The Wisconsin RLC continues to be the only voice for limited government and individual liberty in the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker has exceeded the Wisconsin RLC’s expectations and wishes the Governor well in the coming weeks.

Photo above: Wisconsin RLC members gathered in 2009 to form their state chapter.

Florida RLC Applauds Governor Rick Scott’s High Speed Rail Decision
State RLC Issues Press Release and Congratulatory Letter

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s decision not to accept a $2.4 billion federal grant for a high speed rail project was a “courageous choice”, according to a congratulatory letter sent today from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida.

In the letter, Florida RLC Chairman Matthew Nye told the governor, “When you spoke an RLC event back in September, you promised you would be making the tough decisions to get Florida back in fiscal order. With this decision, you are doing just that — and we commend you.”

The letter cites the recent Reason Foundation study titled “The Tampa to Orlando High Speed Rail Project: A Florida Taxpayer Risk Assessment,” which suggests the ultimate cost of the project could exceed expectations by $3 billion and these overruns would be borne by Florida taxpayers.

As noted by Florida RLC Vice Chairman John Stevens, the other issue at stake is our responsibility to demand fiscal responsibility at the federal level of government. “With a $13 trillion dollar national debt and deficits as far as the eye can see, state governors and legislators must send an unequivocal message to Washington DC that spending beyond our means — even if it would benefit their state — is no longer acceptable.”

A thank you letter was also mailed to Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who announced today he would stand by the governor’s decision. The press release was sent to about 90 media outlets across the state.

To let your legislators know how you feel on this issue, go here.

Florida RLC members gathered in 2009 to protest tax-increasing High Speed Rail. They just obtained a victory when Governor Rick Scott, an ally of the Florida RLC, blocked the rail plan.

In New York City, the Department of Sanitation, aka “New York’s Strongest,” are tasked with clearing the streets of snow. The sixth most powerful storm in city history pounded New York on December 26, leaving as much as twenty inches of snow covering the Big Apple. Three days later, hundreds of streets remained completely unplowed. New Yorkers, true to their reputation, complained loudly and long, with anecdotal information suggesting that something was amiss with the normal street cleaning operations.

On December 29, Mayor Mike Bloomberg visited a Hunt’s Point hardware store where he expressed his “disappointment” in the snow clearing efforts. ”We did not do as good a job as we wanted to do or as the city has a right to expect,” the Mayor said. ”I cannot tell you for sure why it was a lot worse this time than at other times.”

Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association (USA), apparently had the answer which eluded the Mayor. Nespoli blamed the recent cuts to the Sanitation Department’s workforce, directly tied to New York’s budget woes, for the city’s “sluggish” response. ”The city currently has 2,400 men and women working 12-hour shifts following a series of cuts, he said.

RLC member and City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) reported that three plow workers from the Sanitation Department, and two Department of Transportation supervisors who were on loan to Sanitation as part of the cleanup effort, came to his office and confessed that the inept response to the storm was a “shameless job action” perpetrated by Sanitation Department bosses in response to a “raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts” necessitated by the city’s budget crunch.

”They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,” said Halloran . “(Sanitation workers) were told (by supervisors) to take off routes (and) not do the plowing of some of the major arteries in a timely manner. They were told to make the mayor pay for the layoffs, the reductions in rank for the supervisors, (and) shrinking the rolls of the rank-and-file.”

Listen to Dan on FOX News.

While New York City sanitation workers worked to tow a front-end loader after it got stuck, they also destroyed a parked Ford Expedition in the process.

As opposition mounts to the Transportation Security Administration’s new intrusive pat-down and naked body scanner interrogations for America’s airline travelers, courageous RLC-endorsed legislators are fighting back.

In the past three days, legislation has been introduced by two RLC-endorsed legislators at the federal level and in the state of New Jersey.

Yesterday, RLC Advisory Board member Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 6416, The American Traveler Dignity Act. The legislation would specifically outlaw fondling or groping of private law-abiding airline travelers by federal employees.

Also yesterday, Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed Congressman Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee gave a factual overview of the assault on individual privacy and health risks of the naked body scanners:

And earlier this week, New Jersey Senate and House legislators introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the federal government to change TSA’s anti-liberty procedures. The coalition was led by Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed Senator Michael J. Doherty:

Stay tuned to the RLC blog for details on other legislative action items regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s invasive policies.

AUSTIN, TX — The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) denounces the recent changes in the airport passenger screening practices of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

RLC Chairman Dave Nalle said the intrusive nature of new TSA procedures draws attention to the fundamental flaws in the government’s strategy of attempting to address the threat of terrorism through increasingly draconian domestic security measures.

“In the name of public safety, government agencies have been given more and more power at great cost to our civil liberties and in violation of the Bill of Rights,” Nalle said.  “The emergence of an unaccountable state security apparatus in America is a reminder of Ben Franklin’s maxim that ‘they who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’”

“The new TSA procedures of giving randomly selected passengers a choice between a full body, backscatter x-ray scan and an intrusive, hands-on body search are unacceptable,” Nalle contends.  “These searches are a clear violation of our 4th Amendment rights, because they are not reasonable and are carried out with no probable cause.”

“The increase in security at airports with more technology and more violation of the privacy rights of passengers cannot be justified on the basis of any increase in the threat of terrorism, because there has been no such increase,” Nalle explained.

The RLC believes that the level of power and authority granted to agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration is out of proportion to any actual threat against the American people.  Terrorism is not a significant threat on flights within the United States and basic security measures instituted immediately after 9/11 have been sufficient to deter any similar attacks since that time.

The Republican Liberty Caucus believes that the people of the United States have had enough and calls on the federal government to curb abuses by the TSA and other agencies.  We recommend putting control of passenger security in the hands of the airlines, which have a vested interest in making sure that flights are safe.  We also support the passage of Representative Ron Paul’s “American Traveler Dignity Act” (H.R. 6416), which would make TSA employees accountable for their actions.

Nalle observed, “With the increasing level of government intrusion into our lives in the name of security, America reminds me too much of what I saw in the Soviet Union, where I lived as a teenager.  How long will it be before police will be stopping us in the street at random to ask for our identity papers?”

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Not surprisingly, Obama, the Democrats in Congress, and the complacent Republicans in Congress recently voted to extend and appropriate additional funds to Cash for Clunkers. The program is just another endless example of a temporary, short-term government solution to a problem that could be solved by the free market.

The late economist Milton Friedman, whose wife Rose sadly passed away earlier this week, used to say that “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” Generally this is true, but — despite the fact that Congress authorized an additional $2 billion in emergency funding for the bill two weeks ago — there are reports that the Cash for Clunkers program may already be out of cash yet again.

No problem, since the government has an unlimited source of revenue: namely, We the People. Another Friedman quote may be better fitting for this particular case: “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.”

Okay, so the Cash for Clunkers program is immensely popular — so why the criticism?

The program, administered by the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (you trust them, don’t you?), was created to help boost the auto industry while helping the environment.

Sounds good, right? Consumers who own a car with low fuel efficiency can receive $3,500 to $4,500 from the federal government if they buy a new car with higher fuel efficiency.

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron explains several problems with the program, namely: 1) the program pays people to junk cars that still have economic value; 2) the program will cause an increase in driving; 3) Official government policy favors one industry (automobiles, in this case) at the expense of other industries. Miron concludes that Congress “should end the program, not expand it”.

Of course, the government solution does not come without inefficiencies. This article points out that many car dealerships are considering pulling out of the program because they are not receiving payments from the government. Many of the dealerships understandably need that money to pay their bills and meet their payroll. Surprise, surprise — the government is not responding to local car dealerships who are participating in its own program.

Finally, there is today’s headline in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Charities worry that car donations will go clunk” — which is very concerning.  Talk about a good way to stifle the market — let’s just put charities out of business altogether and have the government save us all.

The article highlights how very worthwhile endeavors such as Kidney Cars Program and the Rawhide Boys Ranch are now competing with the government. These private charities — along with scores of others — both use donated vehicles to raise funds for their programs.

This underscores Professor Miron’s point about the negative impact of the government coming to the rescue of one industry and impacting it to the detriment of other industries.

A program like Cash for Clunkers is simply not an appropriate role for a constitutionally limited government to administer in a free society.

Cash for Clunkers is a temporary solution that will soon go broke.

We’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes for the politicians to — once again — rescue the overzealous program with the hard-earned dollars of cash-strapped American taxpayers.

A nationwide map of transportation projects occurring as a result of the Obama- and Congress-approved stimulus is available for you to review HERE. You can click on your state to zoom in.

The Executive Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia has endorsed the following measures currently under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly.

•We OPPOSE HB277, SB39, and SR44 – These measures will levy a 1 percent sales tax, statewide or regionally, for specified transportation projects. The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia stands with Governor Perdue (not often we’ve said that) in unequivocally opposing any increases in transportation taxes until the DOT is reformed so that the money is not wasted;

•We OPPOSE HB 160 – Governor Perdue’s “super speeder” bill to boost fines $200 for drivers exceeding 85 mph on Interstate highways and 75 on other roads. This measure is meant to fund “Trauma Care”. While arguable a worthy effort, the RLC-GA opposes the direct funding of any government services through fines or “sin taxes”.

•We SUPPORT HB480 and 481 – JOBS Act to cut taxes on businesses looking to hire workers and relocate to Georgia.

•We Support Senate Bill 1 - Zero-based Budgeting which will require the General Assembly to review all spending every four years.

Senate Bill 1 is sponsored by Georgia RLC Adviser Senator David Shafer of Gwinnett County.  Sen. Shafer has been allied with the RLC since he was first elected in 2002.  Next year he intends to run for Lt. Governor.