There is great concern among many of today's American voters and it centers on the national database and the driver's licenses that are being planned. These innocuous credit card sized pieces of identification have created a firestorm of controversy and fueled the fires of latent discontent and distrust among the American public. The new proposed licenses would give the government a huge national database with all personal data being stored and capable of being accessed when required.

The proposal of these new licenses was over a year ago and in May of 2007 a dozen states had already opted out of any sort of participation in the project. The ACLU was, of course, at the front of the crusade to halt any such action. This time they had the full support of many organizations and people. Often people find that the ACLU is a bit more liberal than the core population, but in this instance, the point they are making is being thought valid by a large contingency of the American public.

The Real ID act is being fought by more than one group and the reaction against it has been stronger and more vocal than the government had anticipated. The new driver's license is seen as being just an extension of this act and this has not gone unnoticed by opponents of the idea. The thought of your life being so accessible and so open to the government is fueling speculation of more and even more devious means of tracking Americans in their private lives. The popular slogan of earlier times is returning and the rebellious crowd is using it to caution their brethren that, "Big Brother is watching."

National polling is clearly showing that nearly one third of the American people do not want their personal information in any sort of national repository for data and they are very strong in their opposition. Only a quarter of the population is showing support for the enactment of such a policy.

In polling of people who were asked if they thought that these new licenses would be beneficial and create more good effects than bad, in the fight against terrorism, the overwhelming majority of Americans said no. The actual percentage opposed was 57. These numbers again are highlighting the latent distrust of the government among Americans. The polls also show that a majority of US citizens are against the idea of showing original birth certificates for driver license renewals.

One of the questions that was asked of the public was if they would support the use of the licenses in the private sector only for the purpose of collecting and sharing basic information. This question was rebuffed by almost three quarters of those polled.

Politicians would do well to listen to the public in these matters, personal privacy is a concept that all people hold dear, and any threat to that is viewed with an extremely jaundiced eye. It does seem as though people are seeing their concerns that they first voiced at the enactment of the Patriot Act come to life. There were many that said this act was only the beginning of a new invasion into privacy by the government and there would be no stopping it. They could be right.