carbonmarine
04-21-2004, 10:18 AM
( In Washington State)
You Wanna launch you Boat, park the car ?.... Fork Over Your Social Security Number Please....
When our latest issue of Paddler magazine arrived, we were enjoying the usual array of articles about kayaking and canoeing and rafting..... And then we spotted this item.
In the scenic but Democrat-governed state of Washington, citizens who just want to park near boat launches now have to give Big Brother their Social Security Number and other private information for an electronic database.
The scheme is supposedly part of a federal effort to catch deadbeat dads by denying them everything from driver's licenses and marriage licenses to "recreational licenses," which the bureaucrats in Olympia have decided includes use of boat ramps.
The Legislature says it imposed the burden only because the feds threatened to withhold welfare money if the state did not comply.
The magazine reports that when a paddler named Julie Thomas tried to put in on the Cowlitz River, she had to drive back into a town and let a store clerk enter all sorts of personal info into the database.
"In this day of identity theft, how can they do that for a simple parking permit?" Thomas wondered.
The mag says that "paddlers who try to guard their privacy in Washington now risk a $66 fine if they don't obtain the launching 'license.'"
You Wanna launch you Boat, park the car ?.... Fork Over Your Social Security Number Please....
When our latest issue of Paddler magazine arrived, we were enjoying the usual array of articles about kayaking and canoeing and rafting..... And then we spotted this item.
In the scenic but Democrat-governed state of Washington, citizens who just want to park near boat launches now have to give Big Brother their Social Security Number and other private information for an electronic database.
The scheme is supposedly part of a federal effort to catch deadbeat dads by denying them everything from driver's licenses and marriage licenses to "recreational licenses," which the bureaucrats in Olympia have decided includes use of boat ramps.
The Legislature says it imposed the burden only because the feds threatened to withhold welfare money if the state did not comply.
The magazine reports that when a paddler named Julie Thomas tried to put in on the Cowlitz River, she had to drive back into a town and let a store clerk enter all sorts of personal info into the database.
"In this day of identity theft, how can they do that for a simple parking permit?" Thomas wondered.
The mag says that "paddlers who try to guard their privacy in Washington now risk a $66 fine if they don't obtain the launching 'license.'"