Political Equinox

The battle for the border fence just got a little tougher as Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff said that his department will bypass environmental and land management laws to complete a border fence project by year’s end.

The move is touching some hearts in the Sierra Club, an environmental group, whose executive director claims the fence will threaten the environment of the region.

Carl Pope, the executive director, believes waiving these environmental laws is unconstiutional and he is calling for the Supreme Court to look into the issue.

The border fence will be equipped with towers, sensors, cameras along a 470-mile stretch that spans from California into Texas. This fence will cut through many areas of federally protected lands including national parks, wildlife …

Tags: border fence, chertoff, environment, homeland security, immigration, IRS, money, Sierra Club, tution

Back in 2005 Congress quietly passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005. Quite a mouthful there. But the real meat comes in Division B entitled “REAL ID Act of 2005.”

The REAL ID Act establishes federal standards for all state-issued drivers license cards. Each card will be issued a national identification number and contain “common machine-readable technology.” According to author and activist Katherine Albrecht these machine-readable technologies, commonly known as RFID chips can be used as tracking devices. While I’m not much for these “Big Brother is watching” conspiracy theories Ron Paul seems to pump out (Yes, he is associated with battling this one.), the law very clearly states what is …

Tags: America, Congress, Democrats, homeland security, Illinois, IRS, michigan, privacy, real id act, ron paul