No, it's not. If someone had voted against this bill, they would be extremely vulnerable, politically. How quickly they forget. Several damning and vociferous accusations were hurled, and pursued ad nauseum, at Kerry in the last months of that campaign based on his voting against a particular bill because of this kind of 'poinson pill' that had been inserted. Or maybe some of you still don't understand what happens. In the instant case above, a negative vote would absolutely, effectively, be a huge political liability for the congressman. Because voters are stupid. One of the main improvements that could be made to our Congress would be to remove the ability to insert provisions in a bill that have nothing to do with that bill. These "insertions" (the double-meaning here is obvious and appropos) are where the real messes are created and where the pork is taken. In Washington State's legislature, the content of a bill must relate to its title. That's the way it ought to be.

And as far as the current ID issue goes......some of you need to shut up. This ability to have/buy personal information about everyone is exactly what business wants. Business clearly reports that it makes more money this way, and can operate more effectively. So, those if you who support the Party of Commerce (GOP) in my country just need to accept what you're getting. Remember, in the minds of your representatives, senators and President, it's not about people. It's about commerce. Hope you learn some day.

Yep, I'd hate to lose someone like Levin (MI) over this.

I'm assuming this guy also votes??? And it appears we just threw out the First Ammendment while having a poopy-pants moment.

I disagree. Much of the information sharing is unregulated. The gov reps have been struggling to keep up with the many ways this info changes hands. ...and when's the last time anyone had a say on whether the Post office, DMV, Unemployment agency, SS office or any other gov agency could share info or not. In fact most people had no clue this was going on until relatively recently.

But with well placed receivers, you could plot someone's movements easily. You don't really need to integrate full-time tracking into the devices, since the FCC mandated that cell phones do this.

Defenders of RFID claim that the short readable distance is the barrier to them being used as tracking devices, but I'm sure there's a corollary of Moore's law that applies to these. Remember, a 1Gb drive in 1990 weighed about 200lbs.

Then another question arises. What drives the self sufficient operation of such a device? Would upping the levels of energy (most likely) required to afford longer range result in detrimental effects? Or the other way around....upping he "energy' on the receiver side.

We started down the path toward National ID a long time ago. And we need to put ideological differences aside and recognize that we need to keep an eye on the politicians - Dem. and Rep. - that are screwing us at every turn.

Westy, it's been a long time since I pooped my pants, but I appreciate your concern.

Indeed, much of this stuff is unregulated. And that seems to be the agenda of the Party of Commerce. So, are we for the regulation of commerce, or against it? Be careful with your answers. Your party is not comfortable with regulation of business. And a regulation would be administered and enforced by the gubmint. Be careful.

There is so much microwave energy shooting through our bodies they can power it from the air or from our own bodies.:cool: