E-Verify works, so, of course, let's not use it

[scandal 951]

Kass is a daily Chicago Tribune columnist. Often an idiot, this time I mostly agree with him:

E-Verify works so well that it's already been credited with a miracle: bringing Republicans and Democrats together.

The miracle being of course, they're being united by special interests to prevent E-Verify.

E-Verify works, so, of course, let's not use it

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columni...,1963876.column

John Kass June 5, 2009

With billions of your federal tax dollars gushing forth from Washington -- as part of President Barack Obama's stimulus bill to put Americans back to work -- wouldn't it be nice if someone invented a special magic faucet?

A magic faucet to compel those federal contractors doing all the hiring with all that federal money to make certain the jobs go to people who are legally entitled to work in the United States.

Is that kind of magic too much for a beleaguered taxpayer to expect? Actually, the faucet has already been invented.

It's called E-Verify. And it works.

E-Verify is an Internet-based screening system allowing prospective employers to quickly and cheaply determine a job applicant's legal status.

Currently a voluntary program, E-Verify combines Social Security identification with other federal databases to determine if the applicant is actually the person asking for the job, and not someone who passed away 50 years ago.

E-Verify has been studied and studied again and again, and works perfectly fine as a purely voluntary program. But making it a federal mandate frightens special interests, so it languishes in legislative purgatory.

The latest delay occurred Wednesday, in a quiet notice sent without fanfare by U.S. Citizen- ship and Immigration Services to federal contractors. The federal agency said E-Verify wouldn't be up and running to screen those federal contract jobs until at least Sept. 8.

And it's a good bet that just before Sept. 8 rolls around, it will be delayed some more.

Last year, former President George W. Bush issued an executive order mandating that E-Verify be used in federal contracts. That was delayed. Later, Congress toyed with including it in Obama's gazillion-dollar federal jobs stimulus package.

But it was dropped. Why?

"There are powerful lobbies lined up against this, and together they make some of the strangest bedfellows in the world," said Neville Cramer, a former top federal Immigration official who helped develop the earliest incarnation of E-Verify years ago.

"They are deathly afraid of this system being used because it works," Cramer said in a telephone interview.

E-Verify works so well that it's already been credited with a miracle: bringing Republicans and Democrats together.

Republicans in their party's corporate wing support businesses that want unfettered access to cheap labor. Democrats in their party's recruitment wing see a future bright with the votes of Mexican families crossing the border illegally to find jobs and eventually becoming clients of government programs.

But because E-Verify works, politicians figure there's no real rush to actually use the darn thing. If it didn't work, they'd demand its implementation, like almost every other government program.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes a federal mandate for E-Verify. It says its opposition is based on constitutional grounds, not because of Immigration. But these things intersect, and in December, the chamber filed a federal lawsuit to stop Bush's executive order.

"We have some businesses who use it voluntarily, and others who find it to be a pain in the butt," said Randy Johnson, vice president of the Washington-based chamber. "We support the extension of E-Verify as a voluntary pilot program."

Before immigrant groups shriek that I'm some kind of immigrantphobe for supporting E-Verify, think again. As the son of immigrants, I'm genetically prohibited from fearing myself.

But this isn't about Immigration, as much as it is about American jobs, about making sure that taxpayer money is used properly. Otherwise, we're participating in a lie, and lies breed cynicism and ugliness, in case you haven't observed Chicago politics lately. What is required is clarity.

There doesn't seem to be anything more clear than the expectation that government and busi- ness follow the law when our taxes are gushing out of the federal spigot.

"E-Verify is crucial because it gets to the source of the problem," said Cramer, who began his career as a border patrol agent in Eagle Pass, Texas, and who retired in 2002 to consult on Immigration issues. "You can put 50,000 Immigration agents on the borders and you could build a wall around the whole United States, but if there's a job waiting for them, they're coming. If you don't shut off the valve, they're coming."

Despite all their speeches about fiscal responsibility, our bipartisan politicians in Washington have always found it easy to open the federal money valve.

But when it comes to guaranteeing that your federal jobs stimulus money goes to those who legally deserve it, the politicians seem incapable of turning the valve the other way.

jskass@tribune.com

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Sadly - this happens more than it should.

A simple check can do the same amount of work that several people, over days, can do.

Personally, I am fed up with the whole "lobby" type of government we have - if you push enough money toward something, it can be bought.

[scandal 951]

Personally, I am fed up with the whole "lobby" type of government we have - if you push enough money toward something, it can be bought.

K Street. Where all the Washington whores hang out

[Bobby+Umit 161]

good one

[Ban Hammer 13,349]

another reason why washington is on my chit list.

[scandal 951]

another reason why washington is on my chit sh!t list.

Fixxored.

I just love that cartoon

[Chica Yeyé 41]

is that Bosco hanging out with the whores???????????

and yes, what a bunch of idiots. I think E-verify should be mandatory.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Bush wanted it but Obama doesn't because he likes illegals.

[scandal 951]

is that Bosco hanging out with the whores???????????

and yes, what a bunch of idiots. I think E-verify should be mandatory.

If you're referring to the donkey, that's not Bosco --- that's the Demwhore. As opposed to the elephant, which is the Repwhore.

Demwhore and Repwhore normally work on opposite street corners across the "aisle" from each other and shout out obscenities like "you biotch, your loose cooze ain't no thaang!" But when they pick up a kinky K-Street lobbyist trick who wants to double-date them, they're more than happy to put aside their differences and jump into bed for a threesome. Money talks, and Washington whores walk. It's all in the game.

Edited June 5, 2009 by uscandual

[Chica Yeyé 41]

is that Bosco hanging out with the whores???????????

and yes, what a bunch of idiots. I think E-verify should be mandatory.

If you're referring to the donkey, that's not Bosco --- that's the Demwhore. As opposed to the elephant, which is the Repwhore.

Demwhore and Repwhore normally work on opposite street corners across the "aisle" from each other and shout out obscenities like "you biotch, your loose cooze ain't no thaang!" But when they pick up a kinky trick who wants to double-date them, they're more than happy to put aside their differences and jump into bed for a threesome. Money talks, and Washington whores walk. It's all in the game.

GAWD. Does not knowing that n00bi-fies me??????????

[spookyturtle 9,466]

is that Bosco hanging out with the whores???????????

and yes, what a bunch of idiots. I think E-verify should be mandatory.

If you're referring to the donkey, that's not Bosco --- that's the Demwhore. As opposed to the elephant, which is the Repwhore.

Demwhore and Repwhore normally work on opposite street corners across the "aisle" from each other and shout out obscenities like "you biotch, your loose cooze ain't no thaang!" But when they pick up a kinky trick who wants to double-date them, they're more than happy to put aside their differences and jump into bed for a threesome. Money talks, and Washington whores walk. It's all in the game.

GAWD. Does not knowing that n00bi-fies me??????????

Unfortunately, yes. And now we all know. Should have remained silent. n00b.

[scandal 951]

is that Bosco hanging out with the whores???????????

and yes, what a bunch of idiots. I think E-verify should be mandatory.

If you're referring to the donkey, that's not Bosco --- that's the Demwhore. As opposed to the elephant, which is the Repwhore.

Demwhore and Repwhore normally work on opposite street corners across the "aisle" from each other and shout out obscenities like "you biotch, your loose cooze ain't no thaang!" But when they pick up a kinky trick who wants to double-date them, they're more than happy to put aside their differences and jump into bed for a threesome. Money talks, and Washington whores walk. It's all in the game.

GAWD. Does not knowing that n00bi-fies me??????????

You're still new to this country and it's mysterious ways, oh padewan. You can be schooled.

The quick reference to how things work in Washington:

Donkey=Democrat= sleazebag

Elephant=Republican=sleazebag

Lobbyist = super-sized sleazebag

K-Street = the back alley where all the sleazebags hang out, sucking each other off.

That pretty much sums it up.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

i think I will call them all poli-chopfvcks. easier.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

i think I will call them all poli-chopfvcks. easier.

Good idea. There are many categories of chopfvcks.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

i think I will call them all poli-chopfvcks. easier.

Good idea. There are many categories of chopfvcks.

We should write an essay of chopfvckery categorization.