Poor Laura; Identity Theft Solution

Laura Hears The People--It's the Tough Decisions That Make W Unpopular

Poor Laura Bush. She thinks the President's low approval ratings simply reflect that he's had "hard decisions to make" and "of course, some people are unhappy about what some of those decisions are."

Is that what it's really about? Or could it be W's low poll numbers reflect an incredible series of bad decisions, incompetent governance and mishandled priorities?

According to Laura (who, in contrast to her husband is quite popular), "people know that he is doing what he thinks is right for the United States."

How does she know this? "I travel around the country. I see people. I see their response to my husband."

Ahem. Laura, you need to get out of your little candy-coated micro-managed bubble of polite country club Republicans and hear what people really have to say!

Identity Theft Solution

The revelation that names and SS #'s of millions of veterans may have been compromised by a recent computer theft reminds us how easy it is for criminals to steal an identity. All they need is a name and a corresponding social security number and they can open dozens of accounts using some poor schmo's good credit.

Is the problem carelessness with electronic lists of names and social security numbers?

Hardly.

The problem is with the banks and other financial institutions that make it so easy to perpetrate this fraud. And Congress lets them get away with it because, hey, the banks have lobbyists and money.

It's ridiculous that with such a widespread problem banks still allow people to open accounts without any additional information. All this does is shift the problem away from the banks and onto the unsuspecting victims of the fraud.

Surely there is a way banks can be required to do a better job of verifying the identities of the people opening accounts. Social security numbers were never intended to be used in such a way--and they shouldn't.

Make the banks accountable.