[Marak]

[To make something like that actually work, you're almost back to a national ID card.]

Hardly a national id card. Reporting of the SSN is already required by the government to work. Also known is the age and sex associated with that number. As for 12,000 people using the same id, it sure would be easy for the government to locate and round up the offenders. Oh, some might get by with using someone else's id, but there are easy ways to halt the massive use of a single SSN.

Again, I am not making a proposal here. I am making suggestions. If you find holes in my logic, think about them. Maybe you will find a way to fill them. It certainly is better than throwing our hands into the air and saying it can't be done.

[lchoro]

The Social Security Administration already sends out 'no match' letters to employers. It doesn't seem to be helping. In the article, an employer (Blyth) received letters for almost 40% of her workforce. She didn't seem to sweat the fact that she ended up firing almost a third of her company. It must be really easy to go out on the street and just hire the replacements, either direct or through a subcontractor (to provide safe harbor for Blyth from employment laws).

http://www.forourgrandchildren.org/site/DocServer/Wrong_Numbers_Social_Security_Doesn_t_Match_Up.pdf?docID=941