WASHINGTON -- Can one really big government database help solve the nation's problem with illegal immigration?

Some lawmakers are pushing to revive the Employment Eligibility Verification System, which would require employers to verify the citizenship or immigration status of job seekers before putting them on the payroll.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the AFL-CIO fear that Republicans are going to push it through as a way of salvaging the troubled immigration measure. The Department of Homeland Security, already under criticism for underperforming on immigration and the Hurricane Katrina recovery, would administer the program.

A pilot project launched to test the idea in 1996 was riddled with mistakes and privacy issues, but politicians are feeling heat from voters to do something to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

FORGET GAS PRICES,WHAT ABOUT STAMPS?
Another hike in stamp prices in the very near future looks likely. Postmaster General John Potter says skyrocketing energy bills are increasing operation costs by the pace of $2 billion a year. The cost of first-class stamps increased to 39 cents in January.

PENTAGON UP IN ARMS

Expect to hear cries of protest from Army brass as Pentagon budgeters forecast the service will have to absorb an estimated $25 billion budget hit in the next five years. Army high-ups already are unhappy with Donald Rumsfeld's modernization program and dissing of popular Army leaders, so look for the secretary of defense to get an earful about cutting Army programs in the midst of a war.

SUBCONTRACTORS SAVE AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE
The Office of Management and Budget is crowing in two new reports that farming out work normally done by federal employees to private contractors promises to save taxpayers more than $3 billion over the next five years.

But the reports fail to take any note of a Government Accountability Office investigation last month. It concluded that more than 3,800 General Services Administration contractors failed to pay $1.4 billion in federal taxes owed in 2004 and 2005. Not only did contractors hired by the government to do service work and security fail to pay taxes, they continued to get more contracts, GAO probers found.

MOM'S BIG DAY
Gen-Y'ers evidently are more generous to their moms than boomers are, the research firm BIGresearch finds. The organization surveyed Mother's Day gift-giving, and found that those in the 18-24 age bracket are each going to spend $142 on Mom this Mother's Day, compared with less than $130 for their baby boomer counterparts.

Despite the grumbling about gasoline prices, BIGresearch data shows that consumers this year are not cutting back on Mother's Day spending. The average person will spend $122 on Mom this year, compared with last year's average of $104.

Vacation tickets to spas, jewelry and that special dinner top the list of expensive items, but 85 percent of those asked will buy a card, and 67 percent will go with flowers.

DISGUST ALL AROUND
It's been clear from recent polls that voters aren't happy with how Washington is handling the nation's problems.

But there's little good news there for Democratic strategists, who expect that the malaise will provoke a voter rebellion against Republican incumbents in November's elections, since the GOP controls the power levers. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that voters have equal disgust (37 percent) for Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

STOP WAITING
Historians seeking information on Cold War-era war plans have spent as long as 18 years waiting for the Air Force to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

That's much too long, rules U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer. She ordered the Pentagon to send to her court "an officer of sufficient status" to cut through the red tape, and provide a timetable detailing how the Air Force is going to respond ASAP.