>And guess who are against making the ID's free and geographically accessible? It's not the Dems.
>
Our ID never was free, every repeat issue costs money. The ID card can be seen as part of the info and documentation included in a passport - every citizen is required to posess at least either ID card or passport. You are not required to have it on person, but if needed to provide ID you have to show it.
Couple of decades ago cost was really small, just enough to make certain you looked after your ID as to not incur cost of issuing it again - as it is/was valid for 10 years if not lost in between. Adress change is noted via special sticker, no need to issue new in case of moving into new home. Today inflation and added functionality have increased price to ~40€ for ID card (usable as passport in EU EU and some EU-neighboring countries) and ~60€ for passport. I dislike hiking the price for "added functionality", as some - if not most - of that like machine readable chip is IMO not "peoples wishes". Still, 4 or 6€ for each year it is valid is not that bad/expensive, also the register cost on each adress change is less than the beer cost for 2 helpers.

A really free ID document every 10 years, passport cost reduced by current ID card cost and a reissue fee perhaps 20-30% higher in case of lost/stolen ID or passport IMO would be better - if only to curb gov "enhancement wishes" then paid for by ID card holders, but "totally free" would only encourage ID "lending".

my 0.02€ (or 0.00005 ID cost per year)
thomas