Ga. Lawmaker Proposes Doing Away With Driver's Licenses

[Scott5114]

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/26675368/detail.html

ATLANTA -- A state lawmaker from Marietta is sponsoring a bill that seeks to do away with Georgia driver's licenses.

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, has filed House Bill 7, calling it the "Right to Travel Act."

In his bill, Franklin states, "Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

Franklin told CBS Atlanta News that driver's licenses are a throw back to oppressive times. "Agents of the state demanding your papers," he said. "We're getting that way here."

CBS Atlanta's Rebekka Schramm asked Franklin, "How are we going to keep up with who's who and who's on the roads and who's not supposed to be on the roads?"

"That's a great question," Franklin said. "And I would have to answer that with a question, "˜Why do you need to know who's who?'"

"What about 12-14-year-olds who want to drive? What would stop them?" Schramm asked.

"Well, what's stopping them now anyway?"  Franklin answered.

But not all drivers are on board with the lawmaker's idea.

"I think people should be qualified in some way to drive," Susan Cotton said.

"It's kind of dumb. We need to focus on more important things. The system is working," Sheriyar Sarkari said.

Franklin's name is on the first 21 bills of the legislative session, including one that would require the exclusive use of gold and silver as tender in payment of debts by or to the state, as required in the Georgia Constitution.

"Can the state really pay in gold and silver?"  Schramm asked.

"Sure, and they can write checks on it," Franklin said. "They can use a debit card as long as what's denominated behind it is gold and silver."

Franklin is also behind House Bill 11, which would repeal the authority of the governor to issue mandatory vaccination orders. "I'm a firm believer that no person should be subjected to an invasive medical procedure without their consent,"  he said.

"Have you ever had critics say, "˜Look, some of these bills are a waste of paper?'"  Schramm asked.

"I can't speak for what other people think," Franklin said. "I just know I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and that's what I'm trying to do."

I'm having trouble figuring out whether this guy is being facetious in offering this bill up of it he's legitimately touched in the head. Either way, I doubt this bill will actually pass...

[corco]

If for some insane reason that passed, I am fairly certain the feds would rush to pass legislation that withholds lots and lots of federal funds from states that don't issue driver's licenses.

What a weird concept though- I actually agree with it to some extent, but also realize that this would be completely infeasible and the consequences would almost certainly outweigh any benefits.

[golden eagle]

If we do away with drivers licenses, let's go ahead and get rid of speeding tickets and other moving violations as well.

[mightyace]

I heard once that if you're driving a U.S. government owned vehicle, (i.e. mail truck, army truck, tank  ) the state you're driving in cannot require you to have a license.

However, even if this is true, I'm sure that the USPS and, possibly, the army, require you to have a valid driver's license to pilot one of their vehicles.

[Chris]

Pilot certificates could also be dumped with this reasoning.

Anyway, obtaining a driver's license doesn't seem to be very hard in the U.S. anyway. My brother is currently taking driving lessons, he has spent over $ 1,500 by now and is actually a quick learner by Dutch standards... (in other words, most people spend more than 1,500 dollars to obtain their license).

[florida]

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/26675368/detail.html

I'm having trouble figuring out whether this guy is being facetious in offering this bill up of it he's legitimately touched in the head. Either way, I doubt this bill will actually pass...

This, I agree with. He has had 12+ years being an elected representative, so that would account for disconnect with us normal workin' folks. But, anything to get that darned gubmint out of our lives, right? [/sarcasm]

Who needs any sort of ID anyways??

[papaT10932]

Yes. Traveling is an inalienable right... It's called walking. The right to travel is not in question here, but rather the privilege to operate a piece of (potentially dangerous) machinery. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. 

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Someone suggest to this assclown that doing away with drivers licences will allow illegal aliens, err, Mexicans, to live, drive, and work freely in Georgia and watch his head spin like he's getting a exorcism. 

[mgk920]

Someone suggest to this assclown that doing away with drivers licences will allow illegal aliens, err, Mexicans, to live, drive, and work freely in Georgia and watch his head spin like he's getting a exorcism.  

Don't they drive already?  I have heard of uncountable instances of those with revoked/suspended licenses, or those who never bothered to get one in the first place, still driving anyways - those official actions are not much of a deterrence.



Mike

[agentsteel53]

Someone suggest to this assclown that doing away with drivers licences will allow illegal aliens, err, Mexicans, to live, drive, and work freely in Georgia and watch his head spin like he's getting a exorcism. 

eh, if you have a problem with Mexicans, kill them in the name of Jesus and be done with it already.

[cjk374]

I kinda like his idea about gold n silver...as far as the value of the US dollar is concerned.  The US dollar used to be backed by the value of gold.  Our dollar would be the best currency to have if it was still like that today, instead of the being a traded currency.    I know, a bit OT...but his IS off his rocker about the license issue.    We're required to have a locomotive engineer's license to operate locomotives...I'd LOVE to see that go away!  That test is a booger!   

[Henry]

That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard!

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Driver licensing in the US is a joke anyway, so why not do away with them?  If it came with an abolishment of speed laws on the roads, I'd be all for it.  I've never thought it's right that they can just pull you over and fine you for exceeding some arbitrary number set by a politician.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Yes. Traveling is an inalienable right... It's called walking. The right to travel is not in question here, but rather the privilege to operate a piece of (potentially dangerous) machinery. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. 

Back in the day when communities were more compact and much farther apart, with fewer reasons to travel between communities, that ideology was reasonable.  Today, driving a car is a necessity in all but the nation's largest cities.  Yes, that comes with risks...but we're all gonna die someday.

edit: and might I add that once upon a time, there were either rails or a navigable river between most communities, so travelling before the car was still [relatively] easy.  Before that, it was nearly impossible in many areas, so it was a moot point.

Plus, until they come up with a system requiring you to scan your driver's license in order to be able to start your car, nothing is stopping people without a license from driving.

[realjd]

If Georgia eliminates drivers licenses (and probably state ID cards based on his quotes about disliking identity documents), Georgia residents would all end up having to get passports if they wanted to continue flying, even domestically.

[vdeane]

Actually there is no law requiring you to show ID to fly.  This was recently upheld in court.

[Duke87]

So, how do they intend on carding people for buying alcohol and tobacco? How do they intend on verifying people's identities in general?

I can see getting rid of needing a license to drive, but not getting rid of official photo ID.
Besides, having no ID on you is dangerous: the folks at the emergency room or the morgue will have no way of knowing who you are and your family will not find out what happened to you.


Of course, there is also the matter of how then all those unlicensed drivers from Georgia would drive in other states....

[realjd]

Actually there is no law requiring you to show ID to fly.  This was recently upheld in court.

Source? There's no law that you must show ID, but it's a TSA administrative rule. Currently, if you lost your ID, you'll go through an interview to prove your identity; but if you refuse to show ID, they won't let you fly.

Regardless, there are other legal needs for identification such as entering a military base that GA residents would need a passport for.

[NE2]

They do have non-drivers license IDs for those who cannot or do not wish to drive.

[J N Winkler]

I think the timing of these bills (abolition of driver's licenses, return to the gold standard) is significant, and that we are making a mountain out of a molehill even if we discuss the issue in purely theoretical terms.  Note that all of these impractical and impossible bills have been introduced at the start of the legislative session.  This timing helps the legislator, since he gets visibility for them and can satisfy his constituents that he is promoting their interests (or what they consider to be their interests) in the legislature.  But it also helps his colleagues since they can vote them down straight away and move on to the real business.

I don't think the bill for a return to the gold standard is even constitutional since the coinage of money is a power reserved to the federal government.  Advocacy of the gold standard in general tends to ignore the fact that unilateral return to it is very costly.  The same nuts who advocate it tend also to advocate a return to "common law," by which they usually understand abolition of all statute law so that all judicial decisions have to be made at common law--in complex industrialized societies this would be both destructive and costly since adjudication on the basis of common-law doctrine leads to much less efficient outcomes than, say, zoning and environmental regulation in the case of nuisance.

I was tempted to write this guy off as the member for Deliverance country.  But his district is in Marietta (suburban Atlanta), which is probably the most scary aspect of this.

[vdeane]

I don't see why the government should need to verify your identity in day-to-day business at all.  I'm not going to say anything about buying alcohol or tobacco - we don't need an argument on smoking/drinking age here.

Source? There's no law that you must show ID, but it's a TSA administrative rule. Currently, if you lost your ID, you'll go through an interview to prove your identity; but if you refuse to show ID, they won't let you fly.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2011-01-26/news/phil-mocek-the-tsa-s-worst-nightmare/

[mgk920]

I think the timing of these bills (abolition of driver's licenses, return to the gold standard) is significant, and that we are making a mountain out of a molehill even if we discuss the issue in purely theoretical terms.  Note that all of these impractical and impossible bills have been introduced at the start of the legislative session.  This timing helps the legislator, since he gets visibility for them and can satisfy his constituents that he is promoting their interests (or what they consider to be their interests) in the legislature.  But it also helps his colleagues since they can vote them down straight away and move on to the real business.

I don't think the bill for a return to the gold standard is even constitutional since the coinage of money is a power reserved to the federal government.  Advocacy of the gold standard in general tends to ignore the fact that unilateral return to it is very costly.

Actually, if you read the US Constitution word-for-word (and I am very, very surprised that the USSupremes didn't slap the federal government down on this, too, back in the early 20th Century, when they created the Federal Reserve in 1913 and when FDR took the USA off of the gold standard in 1933), it says that (Article. I. Section. 10.) "No State shall...  ...coin Money, emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts...".

Also, in Article. I. Section. 8., it says that "The Congress shall have Power... ...To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin...".

Keep in mind that in 1787, 'Money' was gold and silver.  To "coin Money" ('coin' is a verb here) was to turn undefined amounts of raw gold and silver metal into officially measured units that could be used and accepted in commerce - AKA 'coins'.  Also, within the years leading up to the 1787 Constitution Convention, several of the former British colonies that revolted, as well as the infant USA itself, had suffered through disastrous hyperinflations, caused when they simply printed unbacked paper money and used it to pay off debts from the Revolution (hmmm, sound familiar???), and they wanted a rock-solid basis upon which to base day-to-day commerce.  Back then, just as it is now, the VERY BEST way to ensure long-term economic health is to have a stable currency that cannot be manipulated and micro-managed by the whims of politics.

The guys in that Convention room knew what they were doing.

Mike

[NE2]

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2011-01-26/news/phil-mocek-the-tsa-s-worst-nightmare/

That ruling doesn't say anything about whether he should have been allowed to fly, just that he shouldn't have been arrested for what he did do.

[vdeane]

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/24/flier-beats-tsa-vide.html
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/114346549.html

It's quite clear: there is no law (and no, the TSA cannot set the law, and they are not above it) that says one must show ID to fly, merely that without ID one is subject to additional screenings (besides, if one had to have ID, how would kids fly?  I didn't get a passport until I was over 16 due to the more frequent renewal requirements, and the only reason I have one is because the federal government decided that Canadians are terrorists).

People like you are the reason we are losing civil liberties every day.  One should not need to carry their papers just to travel within their own country.

[NE2]

People like me who dare to read articles and note that they don't support your statements? (Your others do appear to do that, however.)