Good to see those Libertarian Democrats in Montana taking charge of this issue.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said "no, nope, no way, hell no" Tuesday to national driver's licenses, signing into law a bill supporters say is one of the strongest rejections made to date to the federal plan.
The move means the state won't comply with the Real ID Act, a federal law that sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
Though several states have either passed or are considering resolutions or bills against the act, Montana's is the first state to outright deny its implementation, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"This is the first one saying: 'we're not doing it,'" said Scott Crichton of the Montana ACLU.
The law says that the federally approved identification cards eventually would be necessary to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.
"We also don't think that bureaucrats in Washington D.C. ought to tell us that if we're going to get on a plane we have to carry their card, so when it's scanned through they know where you went, when you got there and when you came home," said Schweitzer, a Democrat.
"This is still a free country and there are no freer people than the people that we have in Montana."
The law was unanimously approved by both chambers of the state legislature. And Tester, who violated every tenet of conventional wisdom and the blatherings of the pundit class by running on opposition to the Patriot Act, will lead the charge at the federal level.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he is pushing national legislation to repeal the Real ID Act.
"Montanans are speaking loud and clear on this issue and its time for Capitol Hill to listen," Tester said in a statement.
Denny Rehberg, the at-large Republican representing Montana in the US House, is scrambling to get in sync with his state.
Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., originally supported the federal legislation, but a spokesman said in an e-mail Tuesday that the congressman is now "also against it."
Schweitzer suggested Rehberg's early support was out of touch with Montana, saying "when you get back to Washington, D.C., you get to drinking that water and you start thinking like they do in Washington, D.C."
Rehberg is going to be a top target in 2008.