Free Republic

The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures for customers on the Obamacare insurance exchanges to qualify for subsidies. But considering the hurdles associated with this step – and the enormous IT problems we’ve already seen with the exchanges – the concession may not be small at all. As one prominent health care expert tells Salon, the impact could contribute to an attempted sabotage of the law by those who want to see it repealed. Rather...

What the Hawaii AG forced Bennett to do to his request for verification: 1. Withdraw the whole form he submitted. Because the form had no special directions, HRS 338-14.3 would require the HDOH to verify the accurate, legally-probative facts, and HI can't do that for Obama because his birth record is late and amended - and thus not legally probative as per HRS 338-17. 2. Keep the request for verification that asked the HDOH to verify what is on Obama's birth record. The HDOH can do that without claiming that any of those CLAIMS on the BC are actuallly accurate...

Obama is in trouble, not least after putting out what is widely thought to be a forged birth certificate. And, hey presto! He suddenly announces that Bin Laden is dead, supposedly killed on Sunday in a compound in Pakistan during a raid by US Navy Seals - the day after the anniversary of Hitler's death. This is by no means the first time Bin Laden has been pronounced dead. Diverse sources have been claiming this for some time. As early as December 2001, the Pakistani president Gen Pervez Musharraf was mooting that he had been killed by American bombardments in...

The new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) currently under consideration by Congress is irredeemably flawed. Instead of accepting the "tax cuts for START" deal, Republican senators should reject the treaty for several reasons. Firstly, the treaty will severely reduce America's nuclear stockpile (to just 1,550 warheads, down from 5,113) and the number of delivery systems (to no more than 700 deployed systems and 800 in total) -- i.e. to wholly insufficient levels. Vice Chairman of the JCS Gen. Cartwright (a former leader of the Strategic Command) says that the minimum number of delivery systems needed is 860. The current number...

Last week brought good news for those of us who believe that illegal aliens and non-citizens shouldn’t be violating federal and state laws that prohibit them from registering and voting with impunity. The Justice Department agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the State of Georgia (Georgia v. Holder) that will allow Georgia to verify the citizenship status of newly registered voters.Georgia filed the lawsuit in June because the DOJ objected to the state’s verification procedures, calling Georgia’s process “seriously flawed” and claiming it would have a disparate impact on minority voters. Because Georgia is covered by Section 5...

In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News "stole" the $2 billion Empire State Building. And it wasn't that hard. The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property. Some of the information was laughable: Original "King Kong" star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton. The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city's system for recording deeds,...

Laughable Video. To CNN, this is just another story about The Man trying to keep poor black folks from voting for Obama. To normal Americans, it is about an efficient government entity doing an important job pretty well.

Trust me…

Japan rejects N Korea proposal By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and David Pilling in Tokyo Published: October 10 2008 02:58 | Last updated: October 10 2008 02:58 Japan has rejected a North Korean proposal on nuclear verification, in a major blow to US efforts to reach a deal with Pyongyang towards removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula. Taro Aso, the Japanese prime minister, has informed the Bush administration that he cannot accept the North Korean offer, which Washington had urged him to support, two sources familiar with the decision told the Financial Times. Washington and Pyongyang have for months...

U.S. to take North Korea off terrorist list in Oct - Kyodo TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States has told Japan that it will remove North Korea from its terrorist blacklist this month, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday, quoting unidentified Japanese government sources. The report follows talks in Tokyo on Wednesday between Japan's top negotiator on North Korean nuclear issues and U.S. special envoy Sung Kim. A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said he could not immediately comment on the report. Kyodo reported that U.S. envoy Christopher Hill, in talks in North Korea earlier this month, agreed that Washington would...

N.Korea ‘to Stay on Terror List Until Verification Is Agreed’ The U.S. has told North Korea that it will not strike it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism until it agrees on a verification protocol for its nuclear programs and stockpiles, it emerged on Thursday. A reliable source in Washington said Wednesday the U.S. reaffirmed its position that it will not remove North Korea from the terrorism list until it agrees on a detailed verification procedure. The U.S. was expected to strike the North off the list on Aug. 11 but will hold off however long it takes...

As the Senate is mulling the details of a compromise immigration bill hammered together by the odd couple of Sens. Edward Kennedy and Jon Kyl, and as members of Congress hear from their constituents over the Memorial Day recess, it may be worthwhile to put the issue in historical context. For most of our history, the United States had no restrictions on immigration at all. I am told that my Canadian-born grandfather was a "nickel immigrant": He took the five-cent ferry from Windsor, Ontario, north to Detroit roundabout 1896. This situation resulted from America's strong demand for labor, coupled with...

Washington's most important person--the Anonymous Senior Official ("ASO")--was busy last week, briefing reporters on North Korea's uranium enrichment program. The North's pursuit of nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment, an alternative to reprocessing plutonium from spent fuel at the Yongbyon reactor, constituted both a material breach of the 1994 Agreed Framework and an enormous challenge to the hope that it could ever be negotiated out of pursuing nuclear weapons. Based, however, on one public comment and much work by Mr./Ms. ASO, the media last week set about deconstructing a critical strategic concern underlying Bush administration Korea policy. According to their breathless...

WASHINGTON - Remember the Department of Homeland Security's "no-fly'' lists that erratically flagged 3-year-old children and dozens of men named David Nelson as terrorists seeking to board commercial airplanes? Well, now privacy experts are warning America to prepare for the "no-work'' list. As Congress debates immigration reform, experts say a little-discussed aspect of the bill, mandatory employee eligibility verification, is likely to have a colossal impact on the lives of every person in the U.S. labor market -- citizen and foreigner alike. "Everyone who wants to work will feel this provision,'' said Tim Sparapani, legal counsel for the American Civil...

Excerpts on fake documents from President Bush's May 15 national address on immigration reform: "Comprehensive immigration reform must include a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility. A key part of that system should be a new identification card for every legal foreign worker. This card should use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to make it tamperproof. A tamperproof card would help us enforce the law and leave employers with no excuse for violating it." --- Highlights of a bill the Senate passed in May: - Requires employers and subcontractors to use an electronic system within 18 months...

To access the full version - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.+4437: Summary of Title VII of H.R. 4437—Employment Eligibility Verification Telephonic and Electronic Verification. The current employment verification process relies upon employer examination of work authorization and identity documents by employers. If the documents appear genuine on their face, the employer must accept them. Two years after enactment, the bill would change this process by requiring that employers use a toll-free telephone or other electronic device to access a Social Security or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data base to verify the validity of Social Security numbers (SSN) and alien documents used to evidence...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Social Security Administration will soon start checking Immigration and Naturalization Service documents before issuing numbers and cards. James B. Lockhart III, deputy commissioner of Social Security, told a Senate Finance subcommittee Thursday that the new electronic verification process would start next week. The lack of such a system was a major criticism after Sept. 11, when officials initially thought terrorists had legally obtained Social Security numbers. Social Security could not verify visa status or other immigration documents for all non-citizens because no system was available to do so in a reasonable amount of time. An enhanced...