Posted on 05/15/2009 5:07:16 AM PDT by sickoflibs
An Anne Arundel County man said he has received a $250 federal stimulus check for his mother who died more than 40 years ago.
James Hagner, 82, of Orchard Beach received the check for his mother, Rose, who died in 1967. Social Security Administration spokesman Mark Lassiter said officials rushing to distribute payments didn't thoroughly review all Social Security records.
Because Rose Hagner no longer received a Social Security check, but the agency didn't have an official record of her death, Lassiter said she fell into bureaucratic limbo and was sent a check. More than 50 million checks are being sent to senior citizens this month as part of the $787 billion stimulus package.
Lassiter said there may be as many as 10,000 other such cases.
An Anne Arundel County man said he has received a $250 federal stimulus check for his mother who died more than 40 years ago.
James Hagner, 82, of Orchard Beach received the check for his mother, Rose, who died in 1967. Social Security Administration spokesman Mark Lassiter said officials rushing to distribute payments didn't thoroughly review all Social Security records.
Because Rose Hagner no longer received a Social Security check, but the agency didn't have an official record of her death, Lassiter said she fell into bureaucratic limbo and was sent a check. More than 50 million checks are being sent to senior citizens this month as part of the $787 billion stimulus package.
Lassiter said there may be as many as 10,000 other such cases.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Better safe than sorry when giving away money the government is printing. I guess this is creating all those jobs the democrats promised.
Does government explanation seem legit? It might be. I assumed
these were social security numbers activated by illegal immigrants
and other fraudsters out there including ACORN.
Heads should roll. And anyone cashing a dead man’s check should be prosecuted. I am sick of working for this kind of garbage.
I bet she voted Democrat in every election since 1968.
Think on the state of government records. They are electronic and are sent out at the push of a button.
Is he trying to infer that bureaucrats carefully review all these payments?
There is no excuse for this.
When my hubby passed away, I had to notify and send D.C.’s to just about every government agency we had contact with-state and federal.
I could see a recent death slipping by them-say within the past 4 months...but 1967???!!!!
No excuse.
It’s criminal.
What are the chances these were a few of the names used in voter fraud?
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/your_money/consumer/090514_Dead_People_Get_Stimulus_Checks
Dead people who were never even in the SS system are getting these checks...
You just have to wonder who else is getting them...
Makes me wonder how many 150 year olds are still drawing the SS checks.
Perhaps the other thousands of these cases money were able to make their destination as intended.
sw
More then I want to think about I bet. Someone is getting "free" money.
“Lassiter said there may be as many as 10,000 other such cases....”
Isn’t that speshul...their very own 9th inning voter reserve....
“More than 50 million checks are being sent to senior citizens this month”
Huh...50 MILLION checks. We have 50 million seniors in this country?
Dead woman gets $250 stimulus check By MARC SHAPIRO Staff Writer Published 05/13/09
Jim Hagner was flabbergasted when he received a $250 check for his mother from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program.
What would 113-year-old Rose E. Hagner do with it? After all, she's been dead for 42 years.
"I was surprised because my mother died on Memorial Day in 1967," said Hagner, an Orchard Beach resident. "Who in the hell ever heard about someone being dead 42 years and them still being on a list?"
This check was just one of 104,000 erroneously sent out nationwide - totaling $26 million, according to a spokesman for the Social Security Administration.
Mark Lassiter said that in order to get 52 million checks out quickly to stimulate spending and ease the recession, his agency sent checks to people listed in files that are suspended. Files are suspended when a check is returned to Social Security for an unknown reason.
"We recognize that in some cases this would occur," Lassister said. "In most cases, when a person dies, that information gets on our records and is shown on our records as a death termination."
Lassiter said 0.2 percent of the checks, all of them for $250, were sent to individuals with suspended files.
"It would have been impossible for us to assess every suspense record to determine whether or not the person is still entitled to the check," he said.
Hagner, 84 was alarmed at the possibility that there are that many checks for people like his mother.
"It ain't this check, it's how many more are out there," he said. "If this is widespread, it's costing a hell of a lot of people."
Although figures for the number of checks sent to county residents who may be dead was not available, 0.2 percent average works out to 1,656 in the state and 145 in the county. That totals $414,000 circulating in the state, and $36,250 in the county.
When Hagner received his mother's check, he called County Executive John R. Leopold, a longtime family friend who served in the General Assembly with Elmer Hagner, Jim's brother.
"Government unfortunately makes too many mistakes with respect to payments," Leopold said. "I've heard of this happening with other governmental checks."
Leopold was worried about people trying to cash checks similar to the one Mr. Hagner received at a time when money is tight.
"Nowadays, every dollar is very important," he said. "Every dollar should be spent prudently and correctly."
Lassiter said there is no legal way for anyone to checks a Social Security check in someone else's name.
This isn't the first time Hagner has gotten mail for his mother. He got a letter congratulating her on her 100th birthday - years after her death.
Hagner sees the check as an example of government bureaucracy gone amok.
"It concerns me especially when you hear all these people Barack Obama's trying to get in positions and they all owe taxes," he said. "I think they should investigate them."
As far as the check goes, Hagner said he plans to keep it for a souvenir.
"I'm holding onto it now," he said. "The only way they'll get it back, they could lock me up." ---
I think we all 'know' why they didn't.
However, I doubt we will ever 'hear' the truth from the MSM, or the Adminstration.
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.