Wby are people calling into talk shows in support of the decision? Well, first off, they don't really understand it. It's hard to understand, by design, unless you get to the crux of it, which is that you are not longer entitled to put your money where your mouth is in terms of political speech. This is also a way for the socialists to invalidate the legitimacy of earned capitol, of assets saved and invested, of those who have a stake in the country. It is a way of making those who have subsidize those who haven't. Part of the same overall plan.
Meanwhile, on another but not unrelated front, there's this:
WASHINGTON - U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing an agreement that would allow
millions of Mexicans to return home and still collect U.S. Social Security benefits.
The controversial proposal that could transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security
payments south of the border has riled some Republican lawmakers. They worry that it could
reward scores of undocumented Mexican immigrants with a U.S. pension, draining the country's
Social Security trust fund at a time when its future solvency is in doubt.
"Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration," said GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. "How many
more would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government paychecks for
life?"
Supporters of the proposal argue that Mexican immigrants, documented and undocumented, pay
millions, if not billions, of dollars in payroll taxes and have the right to claim Social Security
benefits.
"Let's be honest, there are millions of Mexican immigrants contributing to the Social Security
system and the U.S. economy," said Katherine Culliton, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.,
office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "It's only fair they get back a
benefit they deserve that will keep them from dying in poverty."
Final approval of any U.S.-Mexican "totalization" agreement is up to the Republican-controlled
Congress. The Bush administration supports such an accord as a way to improve U.S.-Mexican
relations.
And Mexico is prepared to administer an agreement, Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne
Barnhart told lawmakers at a congressional hearing earlier this year. U.S. officials said they are
satisfied that the two countries could exchange information easily on potential Social Security
recipients. Details of how to put the agreement into effect still need to be worked out.
Under a totalization agreement between two countries, workers could accumulate enough credits
to qualify for Social Security benefits in either country.
20 other accords
The federal government began pursuing such agreements in 1977 to help make Americans sent
abroad by their employers eligible for Social Security benefits. Today, the United States has pacts
with 20 countries, mostly in Europe. Congress has never rejected an agreement.
In 2001, the federal government paid out $173 million in Social Security benefits to about 89,000
foreigners living abroad, a fraction of the $408 billion distributed the same year to 45 million U.S.
residents.
But a U.S.-Mexican agreement would dwarf the accords with other countries, critics of the
proposal say. They point out that the combined number of recipients from those 20 countries is
tiny compared with the potentially vast number of Mexican citizens who could become eligible for
Social Security.
"None of those countries have public policies that encourage illegal immigration to the United
States," said Republican Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana, chairman of the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.
Social Security Administration officials estimate that about 50,000 Mexicans would collect $78
million in the first year of a U.S.-Mexican agreement. They predict that by 2050, 300,000
Mexicans would collect $650 million in benefits a year.
But a recent General Accounting Office report said those numbers failed to account for the
presence of many potentially eligible, undocumented Mexican immigrants and their families.
Census figures show that the United States is home to 9 million Mexican citizens. More than half,
about 5 million, reportedly are in the United States illegally, according to federal estimates.
Barnhart assured lawmakers that undocumented immigrants do not get Social Security benefits.
"That's a myth," she said. "As is the case with our existing agreements, a totalization agreement
with Mexico would not alter current law on this issue."
Proof of eligibility
That's true, but a provision in the Social Security Act allows undocumented immigrants to get
Social Security benefits if the United States and another country have a totalization agreement.
Those immigrants would have to prove they had paid into the U.S. system.
Former undocumented immigrants also could become eligible if they later become legal residents.
A recent investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the Social Security Administration
found two such cases.
In one, a Mexican man who used his father's Social Security number for nine years in the 1970s
claimed after becoming a legal resident in 1989 that he was owed benefits. He began collecting
benefits in 1999.
And a Mexican woman who worked illegally under an invalid Social Security number for six years
in the 1990s later petitioned for credit. She began receiving disability benefits in 1999.
"(The agency) does not consider the work-authorization status of the individual when they earned
the wages," the inspector general's report said. "It only considers whether the individual can prove
he or she paid Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes as part of this work."
To qualify for Social Security benefits, Mexicans must prove they worked in the United States at
least 18 months. Payments are made on a prorated basis, depending on years worked in the
United States. Those who work at least 10 years automatically would qualify for full benefits.
Those who also worked in Mexico for a specific period of time could collect benefits in their home
country, too.
U.S. companies and their American employees working in Mexico also would benefit under the
agreement. By not having to pay Social Security taxes to the Mexican government, Social Security
Administration officials estimate American workers and their employers would save $134 million
each year.
David John, a Social Security expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation said he's
disappointed the proposed agreement with Mexico has been twisted into an emotional debate
over U.S. immigration policy.
"Sadly, this whole thing has been hijacked by people on both sides of an issue that must be
resolved in a totally different arena," he said. "It shouldn't be part of the discussion in putting
together a boring technical agreement between two countries."
Sergio Bustos is a reporter for The Arizona Republic and Gannett News Service. Reach him at
[email protected].
:banghead: 
