This will suck if it happens.. Options

[TeK]

Story last updated at 12:58 a.m. Thursday, July 20, 2006

Driver's license fees could jump 300 percent with new law, official says
ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN (AP) - Texans applying for or renewing drivers' licenses could pay much higher fees and wait in longer lines once a federal law standardizing cost takes effect in 2008, a state lawmaker says.

Texas fees could jump to more than $100 from the current $24, a 300 percent increase, when the federal government begins requiring states to issue uniform drivers' licenses, what many consider a de facto national identification card, said state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio.

The change also would eliminate online and mail renewals and would require renewing motorists to produce Social Security cards and birth certificates in person at Department of Public Safety offices.

Van De Putte got briefed on the new state-issued, federally approved licenses because next month she will become president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Source:
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/07200...072006078.shtml

[pebkac]

Its not the "government" i am worried about, its the individual people inside teh government and the populous itsef. By making everything standardized and easier to keep track of, it just makes it easier for people to unrightfully get a hold of that information and more information at once.

I disagree. I think if the government could come up with a standardized way to catalogue and inventory that kind of personal info, it would help make identity theft a bit tougher to commit.

My opinion on the national ID card is a big "meh." I really don't think it's a big deal one way or another. This means that instead of saying Texas, my drivers license will say USA? Worst case scenario, I have to carry TWO IDs in my wallet.