Posted on 08/26/2004 4:52:39 PM PDT by AuntB
Rep. Dana Rohrbacher spoke today about his bill to stop various republicans, democrats and special interest groups from bestowing Social Security benefits to illegal aliens on CNN's Lou Dobb's program.
Though Mr. Rohrabacher's bill doesn't go far enough to address the crisis of illegal immigration, he did bring up many interesting points. Legislation, on a bi-partisan effort, is asking to give illegals Social Security benefits only after earning 6 quarters of work credit, whereas U.S. citizens must work 40 quarters to qualify. The absurdity of this is too obvious to debate.
The following is from Rep. Rohrabachers website.
No Social Security for Illegal Aliens
The federal government is thinking about giving away Social Security benefits to illegal aliens.
Various interest groups are pushing for the Social Security Administration to sign a "Totalization Agreement" with Mexico that would entitle illegal aliens to Social Security benefits. With Social Security and Medicare in crisis, this is so irresponsible it takes the breath away.
Congress must act, and act now. I have introduced legislation, H.R. 1631, that would forbid any Social Security credits for illegal aliens or work in violation of the terms of a visa. This would emphatically not affect those who have a legal right to work, such as legal permanent residents or those who have valid work visas.
Estimates vary, but even the lowest figures show adding illegal aliens to the Social Security rolls will cost the Social Security Trust Fund billions and billions of dollars. Seniors should ask why anyone would want to give those dollars to illegal aliens, draining funds available for Social Security and Medicare benefits, and reward those who break the law.
Joel Mowbray, who writes for The National Review and The Washington Times has a very disturbing article on this issue. It should send a chill through the heart of anyone concerned about the solvency of Social Security.
My legislation HR 1631:
Forbids anyone working in the United States illegally from being able to participate in the Social Security system.
This includes not only undocumented (illegal) aliens, but anyone working in violation of the terms of their visa. (Someone on a tourist visa, for instance, is excluded.)
Why this legislation is necessary:
Current law is silent on this issue. While the SSA currently will not grant benefits to workers without a valid Social Security number, this is an administrative policy. Unless Congress acts, this policy can legally be changed by the Social Security agency. The U.S. State Department has been pushing for including illegal aliens in the Social Security system to use as a "carrot" to gain the Mexican government's cooperation on various international issues (the war on terrorism, criminal extradition agreements, etc.)
The 2000 Census results show over 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States.
If even one third of these become eligible for Social Security, it will devastate the system.
* Social Security benefits are weighted to give higher proportional benefits to lower wage workers. Most of these illegal aliens are very low wage earners, so they would receive far more than they paid in. * Joel Mobray from The National Review has estimated potential costs at $345 billion dollars * It will be a bookkeeping nightmare. Many illegal aliens create false Social Security numbers, use the Social Security numbers of others, and share both false and "borrowed" Social Security numbers with many others who use them also. Determining a verifiable work history will be impossible. * Making someone eligible for Social Security would also provide benefits to their spouses and dependent children, and not only Social Security but possibly Medicare -- upping the cost of this still further. * It rewards lawbreaking and encourages further illegal immigration. Some "Totalization Agreements" serve a useful function. Large corporations, both in the United States and abroad, often assign personnel to work in an overseas office for several years. During these years, personnel are "double taxed" -- they pay both Social Security and the equivalent tax in their native countries. Allowing the SSA and foreign agencies to give credit under one system toward retirement makes sense when it involves a limited number of persons working here legally and temporarily.
This is NOT the case with illegal aliens. MILLIONS of LAWBREAKERS with UNVERIFIABLE work histories will be added to the system -- causing a financial crisis.
I honestly think the Mexicans are too jaded to revolt, they've been tolerating this crap for so long. Now that the US safety valve is securely in place, there's even less of a chance.
You leave the party like I am. It doesn't matter when it comes to the most important issue this country is facing, illegal immigration, both parties fail. Vote constitutional party and send a message. The republicans left me, I did not leave them.
the perfect solution would be to have the illegal alien prisoners pick the crops until they complete their sentence and are deported. By then there will be new illegal alien prisoners who can take their place.
And what makes you think there is a real, substanial diference on a host of issues, between the GOP and the Democrats?
Want to get your blood boiling? Check out this article just posted:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1200926/posts
In short, Greenspan is telling us Baby Boomers we'll have to settle for less Social Security benefits. And at the same time they're talking about throwing Social Security open to illegals. Excuse me while I go throw up!
If I had a choice, I would have certainly taken a personal retirement account. There is such resistance against it, but it would be nice to see it happen.
The retirement age has also been raised. Mine will be 67. Future beneficeries will be even older.
I believe mine is, too. I was born in 1959. My husband was born in 1953. I don't know if his has been yet or not. Oh well, there's no reason to worry about "retirement age", IMO, as SS will long have been bankrupted by the invasion from the south.
Is there really, though?! It's an optional thing, and those who've been paying into the system all these years can just keep with Social Security as presently configgered. We've made this promise to our seniors and no one is proposing we abandon our obligations to them...however, we could still offer a better deal to folks in their 40's, 30's, and 20's. Eventually, I'd like to see us allowing folks to achieve some "minimum nest egg" amount, and get outta the FICA payments altogether.
FReegards...MUD
I agree with you entirely. The resistance I spoke of was mostly out of the demoncrats...you'd think we were proposing the plague.
I was just checking over the State Dept. website:
http://usembassy-australia.state.gov/hyper/2004/0107/epf303.htm
This is an interesting briefing that was given when Pres. Bush made the fatal mistake of proposing an amnesty...call it what you will. Here's a snip:
Senior Administration official: Next, it would provide incentives for return to the home country, such as totalization agreements, as we have with several foreign countries around the world, and would create -- call for the creation of savings accounts that could be used for the benefit of the participant for either retirement or for a nest egg to buy land or capitalize a business, or whatever.
Finally, it will protect the rights of illegal workers who now live in the shadows and are fearful of coming out of the shadows, for fear of deportation. They will now enjoy the same protections that American workers have with respect to wages and employment rights and the like.
So that's it, in a nutshell -- principles, calling for a new temporary worker program. It also will call for, in the name of some of the detail, a reasonable increase in the number of green cards. As I hope many of you know that green card holders can then, after five years, elect to become citizens. And we have limitations as to the number of green cards that are available annually. And it would increase some capacity in that regard.
the difference is, if Kerry wins and the Republicans keep Congress, the Congress will get tough on immigration and stifle any amnesty Kerry proposes. A Republican Congress, on the other hand, will go along with President Bush's amnesty.
do you have a source on this? If this is true, Bush can't make it any clearer that he is simply going to ignore those of us who want illegal immigration to stop and is going to assume that we will vote for him anyway.
there would be nothing keeping an illegal from doctoring his work history in Mexico to qualify for a partial benefit in the US, even if he was unemployed for long stretches of time in Mexico. That partial benefit might be greater than what the full benefit would be in Mexico, given the paltry wages down there.
That's really an empty threat when you consider the amount of interior enforcement and investigation of illegals in the workplace that the government does.
bttt
Didn't mean a lighter literally.
:)
Just one to help start the firestorm. We all know that destruction of personal and business property, while demonstrating...Is the domain of the Demoncrats.
marking
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.