End TSA and Real ID
A stake thru the heart of brainless US thuggery
by Downsize DC
Nix TSA QUOTE OF THE DAY: "TSA has yet to catch a single terrorist. We don’t need obscene screening methods at airports, and we certainly don’t need them on our highways or bus stops." - Washington Times editorial
The TSA's "VIPR" (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) program is a growing bureaucratic monster that will bring groping and body scans to train stations, highways, sporting events, and concerts, as well as shopping malls near you. This is just the latest instance of the Federal State's poisoning of American rights and freedoms.
That's why I told Congress to get the TSA out of our lives by abolishing it. I encourage you to do the same. The hardwired message begins:
START LETTER
Abolish the TSA, and permit airlines to provide their own security plans.
I added these additional comments. You may borrow or copy them. Obviously, I also strongly object to the TSA's growing VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) program that conducts searches in places like weigh stations and bus terminals. As illustrated in Tennessee this week, VIPR deploys TSA agents and works with local law enforcement to stop and search people who are doing NOTHING suspicious. This so-called "Transportation Security Administration" has even...
What has either event to do with "transportation?"
Moreover, as John Whitehead reported in July:
- In a training exercise in Atlanta, VIPR teams arrested a man after discovering a small amount of marijuana in his semi-trailer
- In San Diego, a VIPR investigation at a trolley station resulted in the deportation of three teenagers apprehended on their way to school
This tells me the TSA's purpose is NOT to protect us from terrorism, but to be deployed as a national police force to enforce federal laws. And it is a force that has no respect for the Fourth Amendment. As Whitehead also notes, VIPR units engaged in thorough inspections of EVERY private and commercial vehicle entering and exiting the port the Brownsville, Texas, port, even though there was no specific threat.
None of this has ANYTHING to do with protecting the American people from terrorism. Instead, the TSA and its VIPR program seem designed to break the will of the American people, so that:
- They become accustomed to seeing uniformed federal agents as a permanent presence in their daily lives
- And become habituated to surrendering their privacy and dignity to uniformed agents who search them without cause
Meanwhile, the government employee unions grow with each new TSA hire, and contractors get richer by equipping them. This makes no sense, because:
- The terror "threat" is nearly non-existent, as shown by the small number of plots over the years
- The infinite number of potential targets means TSA is powerless to stop the next attack
- The TSA only has the power to harass and humiliate the innocent and waste taxpayer dollars
The TSA is perhaps the most prominent symbol of the loss of liberty and privacy in America today. Please pass legislation to abolish it! END LETTER
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System. We'd like to thank Chuck Baldwin for his kind words about DownsizeDC.org a few weeks ago. Mr. Baldwin also has a good column on VIPR and the erosion of liberty.
James Wilson, Policy Research Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
Axe Real ID
 Quote of the Day: "You've got to prove you're not a terrorist... Have we overreacted to some of the things that have come down from the federal level in the area of homeland security?" Florida state Rep. Larry Ahern
In 2005, the REAL ID Act was inserted into a war-spending bill which Congress passed without debate. Earlier this year, we explained how this law:
And as the letter below shows, REAL ID can become a real nightmare for innocent Americans. Please tell Congress to Repeal the REAL ID Act. You may borrow from or copy this letter:
START LETTER
In 2010, Florida passed its own REAL ID Act to comply with the 2005 federal law. Now, there are bills to repeal it, for good reason. Longtime drivers who renew their licenses must now provide ADDITIONAL documents merely to CONTINUE their driving privileges. Not only is this a hassle to those unaware that they have to present their birth certificate plus other documentation, it also VICTIMIZES many of us, including:
- Divorcees, adoptees, and others who have undergone name changes
- Senior citizens
- And others who have difficulty locating records they may have never possessed, and that have not been found in courthouses
How does presenting such documents prevent terrorism? ...or even illegal immigration? As Paul Henry has noted:
- REAL ID would NOT have been a factor in preventing any of the 39 failed terror plots since 2001
- REAL ID won't deter any citizen or lawfully-entered immigrant from becoming a terrorist
- Nor would it actually prevent any illegal immigrant (or anyone with a revoked license) from actually driving
REAL ID places burdens on law-abiding citizens and on state budgets. It collects more of our personal information and places it in a central database, making us MORE vulnerable to identity theft. And it DOESN'T make us safer. The REAL ID Act is unjust, unconstitutional, and just plain silly. Repeal it immediately!
END LETTER
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System. And, if you want to increase the pressure on Congress, there's one other thing you can do. Help grow the Downsize DC Army!
Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
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2011 November 07
Posted by The Coffee Coaster™ Copyright Downsize DC
TSA Brutality | Real ID | Civil Liberties | US Constitution | Downsize DC
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