Never mind that all the things they're worried about would barely even be easier with an official national ID versus what exists now. Let alone hard/impossible without one.

But no, we just suffer though tons of wasted time for all bureaucratic processes and all kinds of hassle keeping our documents in order and tons of fraud and abuse instead. For no benefit. So we can pretend the government can't already "make a database" about dissidents or gun owners or Christians or whoever very nearly as easily and effectively as if we had an official national ID, if they wanted to. Sigh.