Republicans Seek Lasting Damage in the Stimulus

Though the stimulus package racing through the house is unlikely to work, some Republicans are going a step further and seeking to ensure that it does lasting damage to our economy - and to the freedom of our society.

Amendments to the stimulus bill in committee last week include one to reauthorize "E-Verify," the budding national identification and government background check system. Another would mandate the use of E-Verify by any business receiving stimulus money.

The growth of E-Verify would raise costs on business and make it harder for many law-abiding Americans to get work, draining energy from the economy at precisely the wrong time - not that there's ever a good time.

I wrote about electronic employment verification programs like E-Verify in a paper called "Franz Kafka's Solution to Illegal Immigration."