Let’s see, how many government deadlines do we lowly taxpayers face each year?
The big one is always April 15 for the IRS.
Miss that and you are subject to merciless fines. Then there is the deadline for local property taxes. Local income tax, if you have one. And your car’s license plates and inspection, if your state requires.
Miss any of those and it’s a fine and/or a traffic ticket.
That’s not the way it works for government.
They miss a deadline and the response is always, "Deadline, what deadline?"
This brings to column to REAL ID and the Department of Homeland Security & Interminable Delay.
Way back in 2005 in the concerned aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Bush administration convinced Congress to pass the REAL ID act.
According to the National Conference of State Legislators (ncsl.org) the law "established a negotiated rule making process to create federal standards for driver’s licenses and instead directly imposes prescriptive federal driver’s license standards [on the states]."
The REAL ID act was supposed to make air travel — which had a direct connection to the events of 9/11 — more safe and secure by conclusively establishing the identity of the possessor of the driver’s license used for air travel identification based on a set of nationwide standards.
That was 17 years ago, or four presidents ago.
The joke is on those who went to the extra trouble to get a REAL ID driver’s license, because the deadline for nationwide compliance has been extended yet again.
The Hill.com informs us, "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced it was extending the deadline by roughly two years for air passengers to use a REAL ID when traveling.
"The agency announced on Monday it will begin enforcing the more stringent identification requirement on May 7, 2025, after previously setting a deadline of May 3, 2023. The announcement marks DHS’s third extension."
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro "Open Borders" Mayorkas reassures those of us wondering why it takes almost two decades for states to meet the requirements, "DHS continues to work closely with U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories to meet REAL ID requirements."
They just aren’t working very fast.
Not to worry though, "This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card. DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible. We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely."
There’s got to be a reason for this foot-dragging.
If little Arkansas can meet the deadline, every other state should be able to meet the deadline as well.
We think the delay is embodied in the initials.
Any government program that contains the two dreaded initials "ID" is going to be a problem. You can’t cash a check, buy booze, rent a car or hotel room, or check your kid into Sunday School without a photo ID, but requiring photo ID to vote is like siccing Bull Connor’s dogs on the hapless citizen.
People with a driver’s license do have the photo part accomplished, but the enhanced documentation part, proving you are who you say you are is a problem for America’s largest and fastest growing future voters: illegal immigrants.
The fanciful tales put on the asylum application won’t do for a REAL ID license.
States like California issue driver’s license to illegals and those work on the trips back to Mexico now, but the visits to the "Abuela" stop with REAL ID.
And we think that’s the real reason for the current interminable delay.
Keeping citizens safe just isn’t a priority when your government is devoted to serving people who shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.