DHS continues to blackmail states for boondoggle

The Real ID national ID that's not a national ID continues to roll along. [Link]

States have until March 31 to request a two-year extension, and DHS had said before Thursday it won't grant Real ID extensions to states who don't commit to implementing the rules in the future.

That meant Tuesday's letter looked like enough to join California to the small rebellion against the Real ID rules.

For Californians that would meant enduring the same fate facing citizens of South Carolina, Maine, Montana and New Hampshire.

They would have needed to dig out their passport, if they had one, every time they boarded a plane, or go through an extra level of TSA screening at airport metal detectors. Los Angeles and San Francisco airports could have had security lines stretching to the Sierras.

Californians without passports would also have been barred from buying certain medicine, entering federal court buildings or getting help at the Social Security Administration, unless they have a passport.

But after THREAT LEVEL provided Homeland Security spokesman Laura Keehner with the letter, Keehner said California's commitment to thinking about commitment is good enough.

"For right now, there is nothing that says they will not comply with Real ID," Keehner said.

Even though California just said it might not comply with Real ID, Keehner said that's fine since there was an ongoing process that might lead to compliance.

"It is different than saying we are not complying with Real ID," Keehner said. "If they were saying that, they would not get an extension.

At issue are long-delayed rules that require states to collect, verify and store birth and marriage certificates for nearly all citizens who have state-issued licenses or identification cards.

That means almost every driver's license holder will have to get certified documents and go into the DMV to get a new license -- and many will likely have to go in more than once.

The rules also require the nation's DMVs to interconnect their systems to prevent duplicate licenses and conform to federal standards for the physical cards themselves. DHS estimates the changes will cost from $4 to $20 billion, but is only offering some $80 million in direct funds.

This is bad on so many levels. It adds questionable improvements at great cost. It creates a national ID system that will still be open to fraud, and is so obviously an expensive waste of time and effort that the DHS has to blackmail the states to comply.