Thread: Social Security Agreement With Mexico Released After 3 1/2

Year Freedom of Information Act Battle...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After numerous refusals over three and a half years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has released the first known public copy of the U.S.-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement. The government was forced to make the disclosure in response to lawsuits filed under the Freedom of Information Act by TREA Senior Citizens League, a 1.2 million-member nonpartisan seniors advocacy group.


The Totalization Agreement could allow millions of illegal Mexican workers to draw billions of dollars from the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund.


The agreement between the U.S. and Mexico was signed in June 2004, and is awaiting President Bush's signature. Once President Bush approves the agreement, which would be done without Congressional vote, either House of Congress would have 60 days to disapprove the agreement by voting to reject it.


"The Social Security Administration itself warns that Social Security is within decades of bankruptcy -- yet, they seem to have no problem making agreements that hasten its demise," said Ralph McCutchen, Chairman of the TREA Senior Citizens League.


The U.S. currently has 21 similar agreements in effect with other nations, which are intended to eliminate dual taxation for persons who work outside their country of origin. All of the agreements are with developed nations with economies similar to that of the U.S.


For example, a worker who turns 62 after 1990 generally needs 40 calendar quarters of coverage to receive retirement benefits. Under totalization agreements, workers are allowed to combine earnings from both countries in order to qualify for benefits. The Agreement with Mexico, like other totalization agreements, would allow workers to qualify with just six quarters, or 18 months, of U.S. coverage.


But Mexico's retirement system is radically different than that of other participating countries. For example, only 40 percent of non-government workers participate in Mexico's system, whereas 96 percent of America's non- government workers do. In addition, the U.S. system is progressive, meaning lower wage earners get back much more than they put in; in Mexico, workers get back only what they put in, plus accrued interest.


"I applaud the persistent efforts of TREA Senior Citizens League to try to get documents from the U.S. Government about the U.S.-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement," said Rep. Walter Jones (news, bio, voting record) (R-N.C.). "The American people are finally beginning to get some of the information regarding this Agreement that they have been seeking for so long."


According to the SSA, the Social Security Trust Fund will begin paying out more than it is taking in by 2017, and will be exhausted by the year 2040.


With 1.2 million members, TREA Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Visit http://www.SeniorsLeague.org for more information or to see the Totalization Agreement documents.


SOURCE TREA Senior Citizens League

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20061229/p ... act_battle

ALERT - Bush Signed Bill For Mexicans To Collect Social Security Even If Living In Mexico???
I just talked to a lady who is very in touch with politics in this country and she said Bush has just signed a bill (in secret) that social security money will be sent to Mexicans that have returned to Mexico and are living there.

She is a staunch Republican and voted for Bush twice but is furious at him now. She is sending letters to Bush and the senate and house.

Can anyone verify this info? All I could find was....

TAKE ACTION:

In June, 2004, President Bush's Social Security Administration negotiated a deal with Mexico named "Totalization", to allow Mexicans who work for a period of time (legally or illegally) in the United States to collect money from the U.S. Social Security system when they retire in Mexico.

Thanks to the efforts of members of The Conservative Caucus, this deal has not gone into effect yet. The President must send it to Congress, which has 60 legislative days for either house to reject it by majority vote to kill it. If Congress does nothing for those 60 days, it will automatically go into effect. Because the Mexican raid deal is not a treaty, the Senate does not have to ratify it by a 2/3 majority. It was negotiated by authority of a law passed by Congress in 1977 giving the government the ability to negotiate such agreements, subject to Congressional review.

The Conservative Caucus has led the fight to block this irresponsible deal which would drain our Social Security budget. Due to our efforts, President Bush has not sent the agreement to Congress for fear it would be rejected. We have alerted by special mailings over a half million Americans, made tens of thousands of legislative alert phone calls, and delivered to date more than 136,000 signed petitions to Congress and the President opposing the deal with Mexico. With your help, we can keep President from ever sending the deal to Congress, we can get Congress to pass H.R. 858 to permanently ban it, and then our Social Security system will be forever safe from being raided by Mexicans. See photos and text of some of the petitions we have delivered

Please join our members in blocking this outrageous deal. Here's how:

* Call, Write, and Email your Representatives and Talk Shows in opposition to the Mexican Social Security Raid and the use of Mexican "ID" Cards.
* Rep. Ron Paul has introduced H.R. 858, the "Social Security for Americans Only Act", which will block the Mexican raid on Social Security.
* Please ask your Congressman and Senators to join as a "co-sponsor" of the bill and to vote for H.R. 858 to permanently ban this or similar deals with Mexico and other countries.
* Please call (202-456-1111) or email the White House and ask that the President never send the agreement to Congress, and to formally cancel it.
* Call talk shows and write a letter to the editor supporting this bill.
* Donate Now to help us permanently block this raid on our Social Security system.

Unfortunately, I don't have a link for this.

Dam him to hell if he signed this!

So did Bush sign this or not? I can't believe Bush would sell out the United States in this way. We can't even verify half of their identities how are we going to pay them social security? Perhaps everyone that claims to be Pedro Gomez gets a check?

How can we get verification that Bush sign this insane bill?

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

So did Bush sign this or not? I can't believe Bush would sell out the United States in this way. We can't even verify half of their identities how are we going to pay them social security? Perhaps everyone that claims to be Pedro Gomez gets a check?

I am surprised that you would have any doubts as to the extent this President would go to for Mexico and her people! I was like you once, since I came to Alipac and read all the articles and have watched this president and his stuck on stupid behavior as far as the illegals go, then finding out about his plans for the NAU and the SPP, I have no illusions left about him. NO matter that 80 percent of the Americans want him to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders, every dam chance he gets to get up on tv, he has to bring in the comprehensive illegal immigration bill.He is hell bent on giving our country away to Mexico.

I asked if they knew anything about it. Also to draw up petition to have people sign to stop this.

Well done, Cindy, you beat me to this posting.


This is the info which made me 'wake up' to the risks of illegal immigration. I didn't know, at the time, of the increased social costs, such as crime and social services as well as other problems. Please contact your Congressfolk and tell them, 'NO'. You COULD contact the president, but I believe he'll sign it anyway.

It's available on CRS web. You can find the report as a PDF file or look at a timeline in HTML here:



http://72.14.253.104/custom?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

A mention is on page 13 if you scroll down but I suggest everyone read the whole thing and also read the PDF reports. You can do that by just going to CRS web and choosing reports; there is a large list of many subjects. They are very informative. You'll be able to see how everything is tied together. Look up everything related to CRS report RL32004; everything's there right down to the SPP.

Does anybody have the SB# of this bill or a link to the text of the agreement?
Thanks in advance