Not to say we told you so, but we did.

Last May, a few days before Congress passed the Real I.D. Act, we warned about the coming confusion. Now state officials are sounding the alarm.

The new law, which takes effect in 2008, might better be termed the No Document Left Behind Act. It sets out what paperwork the states must require of people trying to obtain or renew a driver's license.

If this law stands, getting a license will become a frustrating several-day affair. And a darn sight more expensive.

First, as is already the case, applicants will need proof of their date of birth, in most cases a birth certificate. They will also need to prove they live where they say they live. Fine.

The new requirements include official proof of applicants' Social Security numbers, or proof that they don't need Social Security numbers. The law also says everyone will have to produce some sort of photo ID, or some other impressive I.D. with the person's full name and date of birth. That likely means a passport.

And people will need to prove they are U.S. citizens or that they are in the country legally.

The law stipulates that no foreign documents can be used for any of these purposes, except a passport.

Once an applicant presents all the papers, the law says the examiner must verify them. That means calling embassies to check on foreign passports. It means checking the places where applicants were born. It means matching Social Security numbers with federal records. It means double-checking U.S. passports and green cards and naturalization certificates.

It means chaos.

Already, N.H. Emergency Services Director Bruce Cheney is recommending that all residents of New Hampshire get passports and birth certificates right away. If you wait until 2008, the delays could be horrendous, and many people would not be able to drive in the interim.

Passports aren’t free, either. They go for $97. (That’s a $55 fee, a $12 security surcharge and a $30 execution fee.) That doesn't include the cost of getting photographed and obtaining a recent birth certificate, for which fees vary from place to place. For people born in Keene, the first copy is currently $12.

A New Hampshire driver's license now costs $50. But it's anyone’s guess what the cost will be when the Motor Vehicle Department has to follow all the rules in the Real I.D. Act.

How many DMV workers do you suppose the state of New Hampshire will have to hire and train to take of all this? Twice as many as today?

Oh, and the law says the state must make copies of each document presented in support of a driver's license application and keep those copies filed away digitally for 10 years.

That will put all our personal information in one neat database for identity thieves to find. And, if credit-card companies can't protect such things, how well do you suppose our state government will do? Three times as many people?

Today, the Keene motor-vehicle substation processes licenses only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It will surely need more hours to deal with all the new requirements. And applicants standing in line will need shelter and rest rooms. There will have to be chairs for elderly and disabled drivers. Four times as many people?

For applicants born outside the United States, the new law presents a you-can't-get-there-from-here problem.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Assistant N.H. Safety Commissioner Earl Sweeney spoke of inevitable delays as the state tries to verify birth certificates from distant places where the town clerk's office is open only part time.

Sweeney added, "It will be worse if they're from out of the country." Not worse: IMPOSSIBLE. Remember, the law says no foreign documents.

Although the law imposes consequences if a state refuses to adopt these procedures " its drivers won't be able to use their licenses as identification when they board airplanes or visit nuclear plants " those would be less onerous than the law itself.

Other states have already taken note of this. In Montana, the Legislature has expressed its intention to opt out. In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson says he may sue the federal government on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell warns, "There will be hell to pay."

The real I.D. Act is an economic outrage and a civil-liberties nightmare. One way or another, the Live Free or Die state should join the rebellion.