synrgy
Ya ya ya I am Lorde
Syn, I really don't think the DMV's requirements for getting a driver's license are as ardently adhered to as you may think. At least as it relates to being a citizen.
I'm sure in some areas they are, but I'd wager that it varies.
And where are you getting all these jobs and unemployment numbers from? I'm not arguing that Alabama may have high unemployment, I can't say, but with respect to your claim that having a DMV test in English will suddenly put hundreds or even thousands statewide out of work, where are you getting that from? Again, I ask out of curiosity and without sarcasm.
Seriously? I provided a link with the claim.. If you click on the link for the line "Alabama's unemployment is somewhere around 10%", it takes you directly to where I found the data... Here's the link again, since you didn't bother with it the first time.
I'm quickly becoming convinced that you guys don't really read my posts at all.
On the point of the number of jobs, it was simply intuition, but since you insist on having me re-tread it as if it's not just common sense, here's a random link that lists DMV locations in Alabama that took me 2 seconds to find on Google. I count approximately 80 locations on that list. Unless one wants to convince me that there is only one translator at every location, we're talking about at least a few hundred employees providing translation services for the Alabama DMV.
Further, if we're not talking about hundreds to thousands of employees, then how, exactly, is making this change going to save so much money for the State? You tell me.
We're nailing it down now; I feel like this is progress.. In terms of the number of jobs related to the State's budget, it HAS to be one or the other:
Option A) There are only a few of these jobs, in which case it won't save the State any significant amount of money, therefore this representative is completely full of shit and the issue is more steeped in bigotry than it is in economics.
Option B) There are enough of these jobs that cutting them would make a significant change to the State's budget, ergo State-wide unemployment would climb at least a couple of percentage points if the jobs were cut, therefore this representative is completely fiscally/economically handicapped. (Unless you want to make the case that adding to unemployment during recession is an economically sound decision? I'm all ears..)
So which is it? That he's full of shit, or that he's an idiot? Not worth defending either way, dude.
Your half-hearted counter point about how you 'don't think they regulate those rules at the DMV very much' is really grasping for straws. I must say I'm pretty surprised that you're willingly taking such a glaringly weak stance on that specific point. I provided a link to the policies directly from the National DMV website, and your response is 'oh, I don't think they enforce those rules'?? That's the best you can come up with? Really? We're talking about Federal law here; Not some State law about not being allowed to carry an Alligator in one's handbag or not being allowed to sodomize one's sexual partner.
If you maybe want to assert that there are plenty of non-licensed drivers on the road, I wouldn't argue, but such a point is irrelevant.
I think I've told this story here before, but: On appearances, I'm as blatantly White-Bread American as it gets (Seriously, if I were only a few inches taller I'd physically be a poster boy for the Aryan Nation with my blonde hair and blue eyes..), and when I was mugged (license and social security card both stolen in process) several years ago it took me 2 years to get another ID because they make it THAT difficult to 'prove' you're eligible for licensing.
My original birth certificate that has my fucking baby foot prints on it wasn't acceptable because they've apparently changed the notary system since 1980, and I had to present documents with the new notary system to be eligible for identification. Trying to get the newly notarized birth certificate without a photo ID? Almost impossible. Trying to get a photo ID without the birth certificate or social security card? Also impossible. It was a Catch 22 that took me just over 2 years, multiple government agencies, and the physical presence of my then 70 year old father and several of his own identification documents to resolve. And mind you, that wasn't even for a license. It was just for a fucking photo ID.
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