Life is already extra inconvenient for the working poor. We all know that. They all know that. Our entire society is set up to reinforce that. By “pay for it”, I mean just that - it will come directly from our pockets to the state for getting new IDs. We will not raise taxes for it, but we’ll just make people pay out of pocket… you can’t pay, you can’t vote. I’d argue we need to change the notion that we can’t levy taxes for anything and yet we’re still all on the hook for any major changes (by all of us, I mean everyone except the 1%).
I don’t’ disagree. But any more changes we make only reinforce the patchwork notion of how our system works. The way things stand, the reality we’re dealing with, a national ID card is going to be deployed through the states. That and the fact that our federal government is almost entirely beholden to corporate entities, needs to change first.
Couldn’t this be solved by actually issuing driver licences even to blind people and put “not allowed to drive” to the field where “glasses required” or so is placed?
Well, sure, but making the poor pay for services is the new poll taxes, because the ideology of low taxation is pretty strong. Moral fitness for citizenship is tied to one’s bank account now.
There are all sorts of tricky ways of getting around the 24th amendment, such as closing DMVs in majority black districts, which essentially means that poor blacks have a harder time voting. Plus, now the south is off the hook for the voting rights act - they no longer have to go through the justice department to change voting laws. All bets are off.
Do you mean beside the earlier referenced OFFICIAL POLICY OF THE TSA?
Just going to assume that if the official TSA policy is that you CAN FLY WITHOUT ID, that they have let at least one person board the plane.
You can get one faster if you pay more. I’ve heard rumours its been running a lot longer than 6 months for the lower-cost option.
I have successfully argued my way into a bar once with a passport, by explaining that I’ve been living overseas. They only agreed because I was with a bunch of people holding foreign passports, which they will (often, but not always) accept.
While the US is crap and makes it expensive and cumbersome to leave, the UK Home Office once held on to a 1 year extension application of mine for 8 months. This was lucky for me, since I’m from the US. Other people from less favoured countries sometimes wait so long for their extensions that they have to file for the next one before the previous one gets decided. For some reason, their educational visas last shorter than the expected duration of study.
Just because it’s official policy doesn’t mean that’s how it works. Do you know of a case where someone has been allowed to fly without an ID, because I don’t.
Sorta?
You aren’t required to have a passport to travel between the US states. This isn’t just a convenience, it is an integral part of the US constitution.
So, the requirement is explicitly for ID to board an airplane. A passport is a bit excessive for this purpose. You frequently have to show ID to get into sports stadiums. Do you carry your passport to sports stadiums? Would you be upset if the local stadium only accepted passports?
What does that have to do with anything? As someone who grew up in the south, I’ve seen plenty of people operating cars without shoes and cops not caring because they have other things to do than bust some guy driving a truck without shoes.
But it has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. the point isn’t what are the policies of the TSA, it’s how they are enforced or not. The fact is that there is plenty of evidence (much of it anecdotal) to suggest that people without IDs are less likely to be allowed on a plane, despite TSA policy. You said your friend flew without an ID - fair enough, but I’ve also pointed to a well-documented case of someone being denied access to air travel specifically because he did not have an ID. Policies mean nothing if they are applied haphazardly, randomly, and at the capricious whims of TSA agents.
There is no law in any state that makes it a crime to operate a motor vehicle without shoes. Most people think you will get in trouble for it. In fact, you can probably find a case of someone at least getting a citation for “not wearing shoes while operating a motor vehicle”.
However, I doubt you can find a documented case(or news story) about someone driving a car without shoes, getting pulled over AND NOT getting a citation. Why? Because it is a non-story. What would the headline be? “Person does something totally legal and gets away with it!”?
The TSA can be capricious and silly in their enforcement, but many of the cases involve people not being calm and thorough when dealing with the TSA. I have personally taken dry ice through the carry on. Transported a 1-gallon bag of water containing a live fish through the TSA checkpoint, and known people to fly without an ID. In all cases there was a lot of hand-wringing and threats that they wouldn’t let me fly with the items. In all cases I calmly and non-threateningly explained that there was a little-known section of the rules that allowed me to carry these items. I invited them to take the appropriate time to investigate the issue. I did not complain that they were idiots or that I would miss my flight. I did not ask that they get a supervisor. I let them come to that conclusion on their own. I just firmly insisted that I was allowed to bring these items on the plane.
I was also cognizant of who was a federal employee and who was not a federal employee. If the name on their badge is in white, they are a federal TSA employee. If their name is in blue/green, they are a contract employee. If they do not have a federal PIV badge, then you are dealing with a janitor. Federal employees may not know the rules particularly well, but they are generally more knowledgeable about the appropriate chain of command.
Identification
Adult passengers 18 and over must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel.
Forgot Your ID?
In the event you arrive at the airport without valid identification, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly. The TSA officer may ask you to complete a form to include your name and current address, and may ask additional questions to confirm your identity. If your identity is confirmed, you will be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint. You may be subject to additional screening.
Yes, that’s the point being made. To fly, you will need to provide identification, either in the form of a TSA-approved document, or through additional screening and a series of interrogations. Either way, you need ID to fly.
I’ve flown without an ID out of LaGuardia! Caveats to my anecdote include:
I’m white and male.
It can take several more hours to get through security, so you may miss your flight and have to get on another.
I am guessing it helps if your story is, “My wallet was stolen” rather than “I’m trying to do this for politically motivated reasons.”
Got on an airplane with no additional pat down by showing them some electric bills.
