Political party views about protecting privacy seem to be changing – even reversing from traditional positions. Going back to the Civil War, conservatives have been advocates of limited government, states’ rights, local control and privacy of personal information. Federal government intrusion into daily life has been seen as a bad thing and should be minimized or nonexistent.
The specific language of the U.S. Constitution is often used in arguments to restrict federal power. Yet federal government policies that take away from local and state rights now are being supported by local conservative politicians! And conservative non-politicians, too.
Virginia’s attorney general has joined a lawsuit to stop the federal government from requiring states to give it personal information on the approximately 17 million truck drivers holding commercial driver’s licenses. The federal government requirement is based on the idea that drivers need to speak English in order to drive safely.
Yet, no data shows that there is any relationship between driving safely and knowing English. For every example of a non-English speaking driver being involved in a crash there are many examples of English-speaking drivers being involved in a crash. Traffic records show that speaking English doesn’t ensure a safer truck driver.
The 22 states opposing this mammoth collection of information are looking to protect personal information from the government. Isn’t this something that conservatives always want– that personal information remains personal? Why are conservatives now wanting to provide the federal government this information?
Also of concern is who would pay for the enormous number of hours required to organize and report this information at the state level, and the enormous number of hours required at the federal level to review and react to this information. The answer of course is that it would come from our tax dollars, either immediately or adding to our enormous national debt.
Do we really want the federal government to be dealing with checking driver’s licenses? Who wants to add to local, state and federal government driver’s license bureaucracy?
The federal government is also looking to intervene in our local and state elections. It’s a good time to review Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing {choosing} Senators.” Notice that elections are controlled by the states, with some authority given to Congress. Absolutely no authority is given to the federal executive branch of government. Many court decisions are now confirming this, as the president is trying to change state procedures for the upcoming midterm elections. Anyone concerned about the security of our local election process needs go no further than talking to someone who works the polls – they can describe a comprehensive system that ensures that our local elections are secure and reliable. Talking to an election official is much better than simply believing the media or the web!
Let’s all encourage our legislators to uphold the Constitution and leave election decisions at the state and local level. At the very least, let’s hold our state and local legislators accountable if they try to take away our authority and give it to the federal government.
