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.
The concept of rewarding crimnals, and punishing victims starts in early childhood: Schools punish the kids that hit the bully back, and let the bully go cuz the teach "didn't see it."
It's part of our culture now :o(
You'll think differently if Bush wins. The best hope for this republic in the next four years is Gridlock, sweet Gridlock. Kerry, unlike Bush will have little influence in Congress and another election to be mindful of.
Pass the word!
You may be right. I hope not. The big problem is the 2 party system. It's adversarial at best. I will never put that D or R next to my name. This country was not set up to have such a party system. Gridlock is not all bad, unless you're at war.
Another good read on our subject is Victor Davis Hanson. Here's a good transcript on his book "Mexifornia" from Booknotes on Cspan.
http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1747&QueryText=Mexifornia
~snip~
HANSON: Well, because it`s a very strange thing that`s happening. We have the corporate conservative right who wants a perennial supply, I think, of cheap labor, who is in alliance with the therapeutic left that wants an unassimilated constituency. And the language that we use -- protectionist or racist -- precludes discussion of this issue, which is -- we have an election coming up in California, a bizarre election. But we have this 800-pound gorilla of illegal immigration, and it doesn`t have anything to do with Mexicans or Mexico or legal immigration. It`s a particular illegal immigration from Mexico that`s starting a whole series of inconsistencies, antitheses problems. And we`re not discussing it.
LAMB: What`s the -- what are the numbers?
HANSON: Well, we don`t know. Nationwide, I think the U.S. census suggests there`s nine million illegal aliens. I`ve seen figures of 15 or 19, 20, that advocates on both the left and right will use, that are currently in the United States. In California, I`ve seen as many as 3 to 4 million. A term that`s used now is immigrants, meaning people were born in Mexico, and that precludes the argument whether they`re here illegally or legally. But whatever the term we use, it`s a radical shift since, say, 1970, where we had 400,000, not 4 million. And most of them were here legally, and we had the assimilationist pattern, where we had no bilingual education, no Chicano studies, and it was based on assimilation, intermarriage and unity of the United States. And I -- and I grew up in that generation, and the people that I knew -- I was one of the few non-Mexican-Americans in my school district. They`re all smashing successes now.
The only possible good is this might hasten the collapse of this corrupt scam we call Social Security. If there is any issue that makes my blood boil, it's thinking about the almost $10K (and rising) a year I'm forced to drop down this rat hole, with no property right or guarantee of any type of return from my "contributions". Meanwhile more and more govenment employees, (especially here in CA) are retiring early with ridiculously generous guaranteed pensions.
The sad thing is both parties are determined to kill the economy of this nation and drive us into a 3rd world status.
This will bankrupt Social Security and drive the elderly onto the welfare rolls or have them selling apples in the street .
If this happens, the flood of Mexicans coming over the Border will triple.
We are witnessing the best government money can buy selling our nation .
Another good read on our subject is Victor Davis Hanson. Here's a good transcript on his book "Mexifornia" from Booknotes on Cspan.
http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1747&QueryText=Mexifornia
~snip~
HANSON: My point was to convey to the Mexican immigrant community that we ourselves are schizophrenic about it. What do you do -- for example, I talked to a farmer who employs illegal aliens and says, Well, nobody will work, and these people are the hardest-working people in the world, which they are. And then he says, But you know, I don`t want to go to this restaurant in Salma because -- with my family because everybody takes their clothes off. They stand out in -- with their boxer shorts, where the put their clothes in the washing machine. They sit there. And this is not civilized.
And I suggest to them, Well, if you pay them cash and they`re not legal citizens and they don`t have the capital, then what do you expect them to do? So we`ve also created in California this aristocratic lifestyle for upper-middle-class Californians that would be not possible elsewhere, where we have literally millions of Californians whose lawns are cut by people who are here illegally from Mexico, whose children are watched, whose houses are cleaned.
But the problem with that is that these people don`t just fly to Mars, as they would assume, given the wages that they get and given the status of which they enjoy, which they can`t participate in the civic life of California, then we have to do something to bring -- give them the advantages that we do. And that means entitlements. And we have a $38 billion deficit right now on an annual basis, and we`re starting to see the wages of that.
Think about this, jrp, the people who determine your eligibility for SS benefits never have to worry about depending on it.
It will easily end up being the level of fraud we saw in the 80's amnesty when an estimated 300,000 illegls were to be given amnesty and 3,000,000 people who had never before stepped foot in the USA came over to claim it.
Lots of illegals actually have several stolen identifies --- there would be nothing keeping each of their identities from making a claim. You could have 10 relatives share a stolen social security number --- with each claiming to have worked 6 quarters to each get full benefits when one might have actually worked 60 quarters all himself which would "entitle" only one to one set of full benefits.
Every time an illegal who has staked a claim on our social security dies, you could have any number of survivors step forward claiming to be entitled for survivor benefits. Mexico has large numbers of "common-law" families and it would be impossible to limit the claims.
Another good read on our subject is Victor Davis Hanson. Here's a good transcript on his book "Mexifornia" from Booknotes on Cspan.
http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1747&QueryText=Mexifornia
~snip~
"LAMB: What`s the responsibility -- legal responsibility, if they`re in this country illegally, when it comes to health care and things like that?
HANSON: Well, there is none. That issue`s already been adjudicated. When the population of California voted under 187 to deny illegal immigrants state entitlements, that was overturned by a federal court, I think on the basis that part of the funding was federal funds, and the federal government hadn`t made that decision. It was usurping federal control. But so it`s wide open. And because we are -- despite the invective, we are a liberal, humane society, when somebody comes into the Salma hospital, as I went in the other day, and he`s stabbed or shot or hurt or falls off a ladder, he`s going to get the level of care that we can provide, and he`s not going to be able to pay for it. And the only way we`re going to explain that is that he works hard and perhaps he paid taxes. But if we look at statistics, given the nature of unskilled labor, the entitlement is costing the state five times more than the person`s contributing in taxes."
Don't worry.
At this rate, the economy will collapse within five years. Then I imagine all illegal (as well as many legal) Mexicans will leave the United States.
Thanks, I feel so much better ;-)
The present day Republicans, the RINOS, have completely turned their backs on conservative voters. If this isn't a reason to turn to a third party, I don't know what is. Constitution Party here I come.
This is from the House Ways and Means committee.
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/ss/mexicofacts.pdf
The second to last paragraph on page 1 basically says that we are in trouble if the estimate of 25% is wrong. The last paragraph on page 2 also talks about the billions that this boondoggle could cost us if our government has underestimated. This has a very huge potential of breaking SS.
" Then I imagine all illegal (as well as many legal) Mexicans will leave the United States."
Ya think? I rather imagine them breaking in my door to steal my food first for the trip. Unless the white trash get it first.
Oh, I'm sure that'll happen, too. We'll be a nice big Anglophonic Argentina within ten years; just you wait.
I'm (thankfully so far) not familiar with AARP, but if they have a forum or local groups, it would be great to get them involved in this. Anyone here an AARP member?
>Maybe it is time for an American Nationalist Party.
There already is one.
http://www.constiutionparty.com
Unfortunately, most conservatives don't have the courage to vote for it.
I've tried. And tried. Email. Mail. Fax. Phone. No one wants to hear it at AARP. But if a bunch of people contacted them, they would notice. No one hears a lonewacko....LOL!!!
I'm delirious. Good night!
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