Critics see Big Brother in employment verification plan
ROB HOTAKAINEN
McClatchy Newspapers
Sunday, May 18, 2008
WA****NGTON -- For critics, the idea is an Orwellian nightmare:
The federal government would begin signing off on every hiring
decision made in the United States.
It's the latest plan to stop illegal immigrants from entering
the country. The nation's 7.4 million employers would be
required to provide the government with Social Security
numbers for all new employees -- more than 55 million a year
-- and federal employees would then use a huge electronic
database to do cross-checks. The new system would aim to
detect any workers who got their jobs by using fraudulent
Social Security numbers.
For advocates, though, it's a fine idea, an easy way to
quickly verify the eligibility of new employees.
"If the government turns a blind eye to illegal behavior, our
rule of law will be undermined and chaos will ensue," said
Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., one of 32 members of the House of
Representatives pu****ng a bill to create the system.
Enormous implications
Whether it's regarded as Big Brother or a big improvement, the
plan is getting a good vetting on Capitol Hill. It has
enormous implications for employers and the Social Security
Administration, which would conduct the background checks.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the plan,
says the legislation would create a "no-work list" in the
Wa****ngton bureaucracy.
"Americans should not have to ask their federal government if
they have permission to accept a new job," said Caroline
Fredrickson, the director of the ACLU's Wa****ngton legislative
office.
Other opponents fear that the assignment would overwhelm the
Social Security Administration, which is already overburdened.
"Disability cases are piling up, and needy people are waiting
years to receive their benefits," said Barbara Kennelly,
president and chief executive officer of the National
Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
Testifying before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on
Social Security last week, she said that the plan would divert
the agency's workers from their current jobs. And she noted
the high cost: $10 billion over nine years, or nearly 10
percent of the agency's administrative budget.
Full article here.
http://www.star-telegram.com/national_news/story/649957.html
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But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light:
for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
The light ****neth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be
single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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