If you could change a single public policy, what exactly would you change?

[Skitzyfrenic]

Give every US citizen easy access to an ID, then.

So, in New Hampshire, where I used to live when I looked this up, you need your birth certificate (which you need for lots of things) or social security card (which you need for lots of things) both of which are given to your parents as part of your paperwork when you're born, I think just two pieces of mail to your address, and $10 at any DMV in the state and they will issue you a photo ID. They will even do this for children.

My understanding is that most, if not all states, will do this.

The whole 'BIPOC can't get IDs' is racist. Because it assumes that BIPOC people are so grossly incompetent and so impoverished that they cannot locate a DMV or pay $10.

Edit: Your link is behind a paywall/requires me to lower adblocker, but the one thing I did see was that the man complained that his name changed. That takes documentation, like a marriage certificate, so take that documentation to the state/town clerk or DMV, pay the fee that everyone has to pay for stupid bureaucratic reasons that a poor person can probably get waived, fill out the correct paperwork, and bam. Problem solved. It's not like millions of people get name changes every year and there's a way to do this.

The Texas website even explicitly says things like marriage and divorce certificates, court ordered name changes, revised birth certificates, and more should be brought along for your identity paperwork if it doesn't match up.

 

[Rocinante]

Give every US citizen easy access to an ID, then.

Go to a DMV and get an ID. It's pretty damn easy. Don't give me the excuse that black people are too poor and stupid to get an ID.

 

[WolfBear]

Go to a DMV and get an ID. It's pretty damn easy. Don't give me the excuse that black people are too poor and stupid to get an ID.

But you don't need to be a US citizen in order to get a driver's license, do you?

 

[The Whispering Monk]

But you don't need to be a US citizen in order to get a driver's license, do you?

Why does it matter if a non-US citizen can get an ID or not here. We're talking about legal voters.

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

But you don't need to be a US citizen in order to get a driver's license, do you?

No. You need residency though. Some states don't even need that. Even if you aren't in the country or state legally, I think Vermont along with a few others will issue you a drivers license.

Which doubles as a picture ID. Which is far cheaper to obtain and doesn't require Driver's Ed.

At the same time, you cannot register to vote/be on a voter registry as a resident alien.

 

[Rocinante]

But you don't need to be a US citizen in order to get a driver's license, do you?

Why does that matter? Simply having ID doesn't mean you are allowed to vote. But assuming you are allowed to vote, you should need an ID.

So everyone who votes should need ID
Not everyone who has ID gets to vote.

Minors can get IDs as well. They can't vote.

 

[bintananth]

ID's are already stupid easy to get.

If you already have the right kinds of ID and aren't dealing with racist assholes ...

The birth certificate issued by the hospital I was born in and the scribbles I put down on my SS card when I was five? wasn't good enough when I went to renew my driver's licence about two years ago.

That was fun.

 

[Captain X]

But you don't need to be a US citizen in order to get a driver's license, do you?

The ID is just to check that someone is who they say they are.

 

[Scottty]

All taxes, duties, levies, tithes, property seizures and other methods by which the government does (or can) compulsively take away money or property from anyone are forever and universally banned, and all contributions to any form of government (whether it's called that or not) are to be 100% voluntary on the part of each individual person who contributes.


There, that should eliminate the greatest evil on the planet quite nicely. You want a governing body? Start a club, and find people willing to join. You never get to force anyone to join your club ever again.

Beautiful.

But you'll have the problem that some other country will be able to field a bigger military than yours, because they are willing to do stuff like confiscatory taxation, conscription, etc etc.
And they will come over and impose their system on you.

 

[Skallagrim]

Beautiful.

But you'll have the problem that some other country will be able to field a bigger military than yours, because they are willing to do stuff like confiscatory taxation, conscription, etc etc.
And they will come over and impose their system on you.

Well, nowhere in the OP did I read the stipulation that I could only apply it to one country....

(Your argument, of course, does have merit when we're talking about realistic consequences of a 'national' application. And of course, trying for 'one big change' is by definition a crude approach, lacking finesse. But if I could change one public policy -- globally -- then it would be this.)

 

[bintananth]

The ID is just to check that someone is who they say they are.

Plus, very few people are going to lie about who they are. Doing what Indiana does (i.e.: making you jump through hoops when you want photo ID) is just being a dick.