I can understand the need for security, but the increased measures would and do put me off visiting, yes. Recent legislative changes make me want to wait another decade or so, to see how things go.
Absolutely, now that Vegemite has been banned. I wouldn’t be able to bring along my own personal supplies. 
The whole fingerprinting thing also makes the prospect of visiting less attractive.
Big ol’ ditto from me, too. I have family in the US who I’d love to visit but just generally don’t wish to contribute to the US economy at the moment. I also don’t support visiting countries where HIV status is/may be a barrier to travellers.
I’m from Spain; spent in the US three months in the summer of '87, four years between '94 and '98 and 14 months between 2003 and 2004. My three worst experiences with airport security have been two while trying to leave the US for Europe (November of '02 after a week-long visit and March of '04 coming home after the 14-month assignment) and one while going from DC to Philly (female security guard with grabby hands - I do know the difference between a security pat-down and having my ass grabbed!)
I’m less interested in going to places to which I’d have to fly, in general, and much less interested in going to the US. Wouldn’t return to DC without a very large amount of money involved, that’s simply the least friendly place I’ve ever been to.
Well, I’m still planning to move to the US to be closer to my boyfriend. I’ll admit it makes me a little nervous that the border guys can decide not to let me in simply because they don’t like the looks of me, but I’m not scared of being shipped off to Syria or anything. Border guards in any country have the right to refuse you for any damn reason they please, anyway - it’s not a special situation in the US. As for the Arar mess, it’s horrible, but I don’t really think it’s going to become a regular occurrence. It was a big bad mistake (thanks to officials in both countries), but it’s not becoming the norm to arrest people at the border and ship them off.
Several of my family members have said they probably won’t be coming to visit me there if the new passport rules come through, because they don’t want to go through the hassle of applying (and paying) for one. If anything’s keeping my friends and family from visiting the US, it’s the thought that it’ll be a pain in the ass to get there.
You can always get a “Declaration in lieu of guarantor” form from a passport office and have that filled out instead. You’ll have to pay for someone official to declare that you’re you and your documents are legit, but at least you can still get a passport. From the Passport Canada website:
Amidst the drama, this American would like to point out that we have many Iranians here, and some of them are actually Canadian citizens. Double threat! One that I know has his parents visit him all the time, from Iran. As far as I know, the feds haven’t tried to jam a finger up the asses of Ma and Pa Medipour when they were at the airport.
I will admit that the no-fly list operates on principles beyond my understanding. Somehow my father, the last person who should be on it, managed to get there.
He’s not kidding - people here have generally held Mounties in very high regard (except for Native Canadians, but that’s a whole 'nother story). It’s business as usual to have a political scandal, but we are truly dismayed when we hear of Mounties being bad.
Grossbottom, maybe your dad’s problem is being Dirkadirkastanian. Nobody likes those guys, you know.