Recent comments

Medical: You don't need ID to go to the emergency room (which is what the poor do when they need medical care), let alone a photo ID Job: you don't need a PHOTO ID to apply for a job (have you ever been asked for one? I never have, nor have I ever even heard of anyone who couldn't apply for or get a job due to the lack of one (unless it was a requirement of the job, such as bus driver). You can get a job with a Social Security Card (which you would have from birth), and a voter registration card (see note below). Also, it's estimated that 30% of US income is on a cash-in-hand basis, where (of course), no formal application of employment is ever made. Welfare benefits: you don't generally need a PHOTO ID to get these. For example, in North Carolina you can use any two of these: Rent receipt, Utility bill, Documentation from an employer, Tax records ,Registration with an employment agency, Written declaration from collateral contact (I,e, someone who can confirm who you are), N.C. school records diploma, voter registration card none of which require a PHOTO ID (note: that last only requires a Social Security Card, and does not by itself allow you to vote). If you don't need a PHOTO ID to get the benefits, then common sense and logic says you wouldn't need one to use them. Here's another wrinkle: To get a Voter ID in Wisconsin you need a copy of your birth certificate. But to get a copy of your birth certificate, you need: ONE of the following: Wisconsin driver's license Wisconsin ID card Out-of-state driver's license/ID card OR TWO of the following: U.S. government-issued photo ID Passport Checkbook/bank statement Health insurance card Current, dated, signed lease Utility bill or traffic ticket Paycheck or earnings statement So if you have no photo ID to begin with, that knocks down the first list . You can't get a bank account because no photo ID, so there goes the first three of the second list. You're too poor to buy health insurance and you don't live in a state that has expanded Medicaid to all through the ACA (WI is one of the 26 states which haven't), so no health insurance card. That means you need two of the three left. If you are unemployed, employed on a cash basis, or retired and renting but your name is not on the lease, or renting but your name is not on the utility bills, or renting and utilities are included in the rent, living somewhere but not paying rent by someone's good graces, homeless, living in a nursing home and having someone else taking care of your rent and utilities or disabled in such a way that you need to have someone else take care of your rent and utilities then you're screwed.