Aug 16
Something’s Wrong with Richmond
Or more specifically, the communication between states and municipalities. And given America’s obsession with “homeland security” it’s a problem that makes me wonder what’s going on.
I relocated back to my home state of South Carolina last fall. A few weeks back, I received a delinquent property tax bill for my car. The bill came from the City of Richmond.
Trouble is, I transferred my tag and title back to South Carolina last October. So they’ve had nine months to learn that piece of information, not to mention the fact that I no longer live at the address they sent the bill. I called them, explained the situation, and they said they’d have someone call me back. No one ever did.
I considered the matter a “done deal,” but now I’m not so sure, after I received a new piece of mail tonight.
This time, the City of Richmond has sent me notification that I am to report for jury duty. Jury duty! In a city that happens to be the capital of a state I no longer live in. And haven’t lived in for the better part of a year.
Jury duty, for which eligibility is determined by one’s driver’s license. My Virginia driver’s license is long gone, replaced last October with a shiny new South Carolina version. My voter registration, which can also help pinpoint jury candidates, also was issued from South Carolina.
My Virginia state commonwealth tax returns also had the South Carolina address, and I filed as a “part-year resident.”
So it’s not like someone didn’t have a way to have figured all of this out by now.
I can understand if I were some “undocumented” worker. But I’m a loyal taxpayer. I file my paperwork on time, I apply for proper ID, fill out proper county and city information as requested. And yet Richmond still hasn’t figured out that I am not, in fact, one of its own any longer.
I’ve never really had a problem with the concept of a National ID, because it seems that the majority of the information they’re trying to compile is available anyway. But it appears that the state-to-state route allows some gaping holes in communication.
And it makes me wonder how many more menacing characters there are wandering around out there while local authorities have no clue where they are.
There’s something very wrong with this picture.
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August 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I agree that we need a National ID, especially in light of the fact that we are now fighting terrorism not only on a world wide basis, but in our own country as well. Anything that could help the flow of information throughout the country and between states would be beneficial. I, too, have received notices, and then “threats” from OK even after moving from there 2 1/2 years ago that my states taxes have not been filed and I will face strict penalities if not done by specific date. I too, filed a partial year resident tax return when we moved, and turned over OK license when obtaining my AZ one. I definitely agree that local authorities have no clue. De
August 17th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
National ID Systems, on top of warrantless wiretapping, datamining, and unprovoked attacks on citizens personal, private communications, email, telephone, internet, utility bills, unpaid balances on a credit card, outstanding traffic tickets, IRS information, medical records, AND chocolate eating habits?
It’s just more than one Dictator could hope for. I believe I’m all for taking those rights back, instead of laying down and silently submitting to the notion of a National ID Card. I don’t care what’s available, who has it, or who can get it. My stupidity, and American/International Business is one thing. An uncontrolled federal government with it’s own Police Force (and, incidentally, ARMY) is something quite else again.
The government should NOT have the right, much less the unfettered access to this most fundamental right of privacy among its citizens. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is, further, completely unconscionable to the principles and original mandates of the issues of liberty, freedom, and privacy.
Umm, yes, I have quite a problem with it, actually. Just thought I’d throw in my $0.02
Best Regards,
Budroe
August 18th, 2007 at 6:41 am
We already have a “National I.D.” — it’s called a passport. This is just one more step down a very slippery slope that I, for one, have no desire to slide down. There IS such a thing as “state’s rights” and it is time the states and commonweals assert them, vigorously. The threat to this country are muddle-headed thinkers and high school graduates unable to balance a checkbook, add a column of numbers or figure out a rail schedule. Willful ignorance is the threat to the integrity of this country and its economy, not little brown men with bombs strapped to them and visions of virginal rewards in heaven.