Re: Gore's Agenda for Global Electronic Government - Revealed!

["Laura J. Walker" <LJW6626@worldnet.att.net>]

Ed --

Many of the services mentioned in your email have been "bundled" electronically
already -- applying for federally funded student loans, for example, and the
electronic depositing of government payments like Social Security.  While there
may indeed be a threat, I think this is also a positive.  For example, the rate of
default on student loans has grown incredibly in the last few years, which makes
it difficult for needy students to get federally funded loans at decent interest
rates.  Ergo, by applying (or reapplying) for these loans electronically, the D.
of Education can probably keep tabs on loans (and those who default).  I find no
problem in this, especially since the use of SSN's -- for all practical purposes
in place and used by nearly all commercial and governmental agencies since the 60s
-- is the best way to keep track of social security payments, tax payments,
federal loans, for example.

In addition, considering that the SSA probably loses a ton of money every year due
to stolen checks and forgery, electronic deposits save costs (not to mention
making it easier and less troubling for the elderly and disabled -- those who are
at the highest risk of robbery on "payday").

Technology has vast promise as well as vast potential for misuse and abuse.  But
what system doesn't?  And how much more difficult do you think it would be to get
a loan, get your social security payments/
benefits, keep track on who's paying their taxes and who isn't, without some sort
of identification system.  Seems to me that SSN's are the best form of
identification, to date, that we have come up with to do this.  Or, are you
advocating complete chaos, without any form of taxation or governmental
benefits...? ;-]

Laura

Edward Britton wrote:

> =============================================================
> SCAN THIS NEWS
> 1/16/99
>
> I've been saying for some time that the federal government is building a
> totally electronic network to be used to monitor, track, and control the
> citizenry. The pieces are being put into place at a ever-more-rapid
> pace. This week, at his conference on "Electronic Government" held in
> Washington D.C., Vice President Al Gore revealed a great deal more about
> the agenda
> for citizen control.
>
> For background: This year, the federal government began issuing all
> government checks electronically. Anyone who became "eligible" for a
> government check - such as welfare, social security, veteran's pay, and
> of course all employee payrolls - after 1996 is required, beginning in
> 1999, to accept payment by direct bank deposit. All government contractors
> must
> also accept payment electronically.
>
> Another piece of the network is the banking industry "know your
> customer" identification and monitoring program. The federal government is
> requiring all banks to implement KYC measures - and to install the necessary
> electronic monitoring systems - so that all financial transactions can
> be tracked. Anyone who will not "identify" themselves to the system - using
> whatever means of identification THEY ultimately dictate - will not be
> able to conduct business. Period! Already, it is illegal to deposit or
> withdraw over $10,000 without presentation of identification. Even with
> identification, the bank must report the transaction on a federal form.
> No exceptions. Additionally, anyone who wishes to purchase a money order
> (including a Postal Money Order) in amounts over $3,000 must give a
> social security number. If they refuse, they may be issued the money order,
> but
> a "suspicious transaction" report will be filed on them with a federal
> agency - without their knowledge.
>
> The federal "New Hires Registry" program requires every employer in
> every state to report to a central database the name, address, social security
> number, and amount of wage of each newly hired employee. Under the
> "deadbeat dads" legislation, every licensing agency in every state is
> required to
> obtain a social security number from every license applicant; this
> information also goes into a central data registry. The purpose of these
> two information collection laws, as stated in the Welfare Reform Act and the
> Illegal Immigration Act (both of which were passed in 1996) is to
> develop a network for "locating and tracking" individuals. Those were the
> words
> used in the Act.
>
> The ultimate objective with all of this "electronic government" spy
> network is to provide a direct and almost constant link between the
> "electronic"
> federal government and the people. A primary goal of this system is to
> be able to extract TAX payments AT WILL. The intent is to have a system in
> place which will allow federal agencies to KNOW exactly how much you
> make (and where you make it); how much you spend (and where you spend it);
> and how much tax you will pay (and YOU WILL PAY IT - ELECTRONICALLY)!
>
> Al Gore has now announced a pilot (indoctrination) program that will
> allow (force) college students to see how wonderful it is for the federal
> government to provide for all their needs - electronically. Under the
> pilot program, college students will be able to "use the Internet to get
> combined government and commercial services." Notice the merging of government
> and commercial endeavors? This is a key component of Al Gore's electronic
> government. This used to be called socialism.
>
> A major part of the college campus "pilot" program is electronic tax
> filing. They'll also learn how to get loans from their government so they
> can be
> perpetually indentured. The press release says the students can even
> "request an address change?" How about: request an occupation change?
> And, as an added bonus, the students can even fill out an electronic request
> form asking the government for permits to go camping during their time off
> from (labor) camp[us].
>
> What's the purpose of this college campus pilot program? It's to refine
> the system so that when YOU are forced to use it in the near future,
> there'll be no escape. All the "bugs" will have been worked out by then.
>
> Here's what Al Gore said about the purpose of the "electronic
> government" pilot program:
>
>       "The technology exists today to provide the necessary protection
> to conduct highly sensitive financial transactions online," said the
> Vice President. "Our aim in this pilot is to prove these same technologies
> are sufficiently secure for people to do business with the government."
>
> You'll notice that the press release is full of comforting buzz words
> and phrases, such as: "secure," "protection," "government services," "better
> serve," and, "one-stop convenience."
>
> These same indoctrinated college students will themselves be running Al
> Gore's electronic government in the very near future. By that time -
> once they have achieved positions of "authority" - they will have been living
> "under the government's thumb" for several years. They will "owe"
> everything to the government - literally. There'll be NO escape for them.
> Do you
> think THEY will entertain rebellious attitudes, or an "alternative" social
> order? No.
>
> Anyone who is concerned about the possibility of the millenium bug
> crashing the global computer system - and there certainly is cause for
> concern -
> better be equally concerned about the possibility that we could just
> sail right through 2000; in which case, electronic technology would be hailed
> as the salvation of mankind, - a god in its own right - and Al Gore's
> totally "electronic government" would become unstoppable. Which of these is
> the
> more frightening scenario? An equally frightening thought is that there is a
> very real possibility that Gore is about to become our President.
>
> Scott McDonald
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> [Press Release]
>
> January 15, 1999
>
> VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT SERVICES TO BETTER
> SERVE STUDENTS
>
>                               THE WHITE HOUSE
>
>                        Office of the Vice President
> ______________________________________________________________________
> For Immediate Release                         Contact:
> Friday, January 15, 1999                      (202) 456-7035
>
>   VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT
>      SERVICES TO BETTER SERVE STUDENTS
>
>          Administration Pilots Service for Post-Secondary Students
>    to Get Combined Government and Commercial Services over the Internet
>
>      Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced today that,
> starting this fall, college students will be able to use the Internet to get
> combined government and commercial services.
>
>      The Vice President unveiled Access America for Students today at
> the Global Forum on Reinventing Government. The Access America for Students
> action plan refocuses the delivery of federal electronic services across
> agency boundaries to better serve the needs of post-secondary students
> who need government services.
>
>      "We need to make effective use of today's technology to improve
> citizen services and reduce government costs," Vice President Gore said.
> "This pilot program will provide the basis for continued efforts to make
> online government transactions available to any customer that wishes to
> receive services electronically."
>
>      Access America for Students pilot projects will be conducted this
> fall on sixcampuses -- DeVry Institute of Technology in Illinois, New
> York University, Tarrant County Junior College in Texas, the University of
> Florida, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, the University of
> Northern Colorado, and the Western Governor's University in Utah. George
> Washington University, Iowa State University, and Tennessee State
> University will participate in an advisory capacity.
>
>      Initial federal services offered in the pilot include: student loan
> qualification, student aid application and allocation, requests for
> address changes, application for veteran student benefits, tax filing,
> passport
> applications, as well as online campsite reservations and applications
> for backwoods permits.
>
>      Commercial services, such as card-based purchases both on campus
> and with local merchants, can bundled with the government services to
> provide one-stop convenience. The pilot project will also investigate the
> benefits of implementing a common student account structure to consolidate
> educational loans and to allow account management through the existing
> commercial electronic payment infrastructure.
>
>      A key objective of the pilot test is demonstrating ways to insure
> the privacy of the information shared by students with the agency and
> commercial service providers. Students who take part in this pilot test
> will use electronic identification methods, such as digital signatures
> and student certificates.
>
>       "The technology exists today to provide the necessary protection
> to conduct highly sensitive financial transactions online," said the
> Vice President. "Our aim in this pilot is to prove these same technologies
> are sufficiently secure for people to do business with the government."
>
>      Federal agencies, industry partners, and academic institutions have
> embraced the Access America for Students plan as a way to align
> resources to better serve their student customers, to eliminate duplication of
> effort, and to enable complete government transactions to be done over
> the Internet. Pilot agencies will accept confirmation from a participating
> university or college that a student is currently registered on campus
> as proof of identification needed to authorize the requested federal
> service. Methods used to store this proof-of-identity, making it transportable
> for ready reuse, will include a variety of card technologies and personal
> identification numbers (PINs), already in use on most of the pilot
> campuses.
>
>      Students at the pilot schools will have an opportunity to use
> three new features: (1) a single website to access government services
> electronically, (2) an electronic ID, and (3) a single, integrated
> student account.
>
>      The role of the school does not change under Access America for
> Students. Schools will continue their traditional role as primary point
> of contact for students. They will continue to determine a student?s
> eligibility and aid package. They will continue to select their own
> banking partners and to receive all student aid money up front to be
> applied to the student account, and they will calculate and apply credit
> balances to student bank accounts.
>
>              Similarly, the role of the lender does not change in the new
> program either. Banks and other lending institutions will continue to
> play the vital role of providing education funds to students and working with
> their school partners to provide access to funds. They will continue
> providing campus card services, student bank accounts, and other
> services. And, along with the schools, lenders will play an advisory role
> in the
> development of a common process and student aid account
>
>      Pilot tests will be conducted in the fall of 1999, with plans to
> expand to larger demonstration projects with a larger number of campuses
> participating in 2000, and, to make the service available to all
> students with access to the Internet in 2001.
>
>      Student input as the plan was developed was essential to ensure
> their needs were properly addressed. Continued feedback from the testing
> student population will be gathering throughout the pilot to measure the
> initiatives effectiveness in achieving its goals and to ensure the
> service evolves to match the growing needs of future college-bound
> students. Other customers for whom bundled electronic government
> services are planned include businesses, seniors, government employees,
> and, law
> enforcement. A similar series of tests will be conducted for these
> groups over the next two years.
>
>      Vice President Gore also reminds students that time is running out
> for them to consolidate their school loans at a special low interest of
> 7.45%.
>
>                                   -more-
>
>      "Students can save hundreds of dollars in interest payments by
> consolidating their school loans under the Education Department's direct
> loan program," said the Vice President.
>
>      "But they only have until January 31st -- just 16 more days -- to
> get their loan consolidation applications post-marked or transmitted over
> the World Wide Web (www.ed.gov)," Gore said.
>
>      Applications postmarked or transmitted later will be approved at a
> higher interest rate, one equal to the average rate of the loans being
> consolidated.
>
>       "The reinvented Education Department process for loan
> consolidation is ready to handle the last minute crush," he added. "They
> are already
> processing four times the initial volume of applications and doing it
> faster than loan industry standards."
>
>                                     ###
> [End Press Release]
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>   "From the rage of today's downtrodden comes the revenge of tomorrow's
>                     revolutionary force." Edward Britton   ><>
>            http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5285/connector1.html
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> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>