Thread: Totalization Sell-out:What You Don't Know will Cost You

http://www.azconservative.org/Barton.htm


While most Americans were riveted to the hotly contested Democratic National Primary in June of 2004 and the national media speculated on Howard Dean or John Kerry, the Commissioner of the U.S. Social Security Administration (Jo Anne Barnhart) and her Mexican counterpart concluded the U.S.-Mexican Totalization Agreement. This agreement had to be in place prior to the administration's second term and it's all-out offensive for Social Security reform.

What would be the potential effects of this totalization agreement with Mexico, should the president choose to move it forward? Unauthorized illegal aliens working in the U.S. could qualify for Social Security benefits with as few as six coverage credits, as opposed to the 40 now required of American workers. Additionally, illegal workers could qualify for partial benefits after only 18 months (working illegally and with a false identity), while the American worker would still have to work 10 years in order to vest in the program. Lastly, families and dependents of illegal workers would be entitled to benefits as dependents and survivors, even if not residing in the U.S.

So what is a "totalization" agreement? These are bilateral agreements between the U.S. Social Security Administration and its counterpart in foreign countries to coordinate their Social Security programs. Presently the U.S. has 20 such agreements, mostly with European nations. This overall program has been in place since the Carter Administration. However, this is the first totalization agreement between the United States and a nation responsible for nearly 70 percent of the illegal immigration into the United States.

How odd it is, that amid the national debate currently raging in Washington, no mention is being made about this agreement with Mexico. This lack of debate is made all the more curious, since in September of 2003 the General Accounting Office (GAO) warned of the Social Security Trust Fund that "a totalization agreement with Mexico has raised concerns that many such workers would become newly eligible for social security benefits at a time when long-term solvency is threatened."

According to the GAO report, the agreement will likely increase the number of "unauthorized" Mexican workers and their family members eligible for social security benefits.

The Social Security Administration's estimate is that only about 50,000 Mexican workers (both legal and illegal) will enter the program in its first year at a cost of $78 million. This ignores the fact that presently there are an estimated 5 to 6 million undocumented Mexicans now in the American workforce. In 2004, the SSA did a study and determined that there were up to 800,000 mis-matched social security accounts, many of which were workers using non-work social security cards, or worse, using stolen social security numbers.

Meanwhile, estimates of the SSA are that by 2050 only 300,000 Mexican workers in the U.S. would be in the system at a cost projection of $650 million annually.

Among its negative findings, the GAO summarized its report this way:"Under the Social Security Act, all earnings from employment in the United States count towards earning social security benefits, regardless of the lawful presence of the worker, his or her citizenship status, or country of residence. Immigrants [both legal and otherwise] become entitled to benefits from unauthorized work if they can prove that the earnings and related contributions belong to them. However, they cannot collect such benefits unless [or until] they are either legally present in the United States [hence the Administration's Guest Worker Program], or living in a country where SSA is authorized to pay them their benefits. [Hence an SSA office in Mexico City] Mexico is such a country."

The GAO continued, "A lack of transparency in the SSA's processes, and the limited nature of its review of Mexico's program, [a two-day visit] cause us to question the extent to which SSA will be positioned to respond to potential program risks should a totalization agreement with Mexico take place."

A Congressional Ways & Means Committee Fact Sheet (Sept. 22, 2004) takes note that, "A totalization agreement with Mexico overrides restrictions to non-citizen spouses and children." In effect, the U.S. Mexico Totalization Agreement signed June 29, 2004 allows non-citizen spouses and children residing outside of the United States to receive social security benefits.

Where to from here? Although signed in June 2004, the Totalization Agreement does not go into effect until 60 legislative days following the president's submission to Congress. Thereafter, Congress has 60 days in which to pass a resolution of disapproval to prevent the agreement from taking effect. Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-CD5) has sponsored House Resolution 20 to formally express the disapproval of Congress. Presently H. Res. 20 has 40 co-sponsors, of which the only other Arizona Congressman onboard is Rick Renzi (R-CD1).

However, according to the Congressional Research Service, the resolution of disapproval mechanism currently in the Social Security Act is an unconstitutional legislative veto, this based on the Supreme Court's decision in INS vs. Chadha (462 U.S. 919 (1983)) in which the Supreme Court struck down a similar provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

As of now, the Administration has yet to send the U.S. Mexico Totalization Agreement to Congress for review. Perhaps they're waiting for the approval of some form of social security reform package to emerge from the Senate? Perhaps they're waiting for some form of Guest Worker Program to emerge from the House? In any event, enactment appears to depend on timing.

For more information, contact Congressman J.D. Hayworth's office or request GAO report #GAO-03-993, "Social Security: Proposed Totalization Agreement with Mexico Presents Unique Challenges."

I started talking about this little scheme a couple years ago. No one wanted to believe it. If this is how Bush plans to "reform" social security, heaven help us.

Contacting the White House [En Español also!]

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Other articles and info on this:



http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mich ... 0107.shtml

The criminal raid on Social Security Michelle Malkin January 7, 2004

My 8-week-old son's Social Security card recently arrived in the mail. On the back, there's a stern warning: "Improper use of this card or number by anyone is punishable by fine, imprisonment or both."

Welcome to the world of government theft and selective enforcement, my boy.

While innocent babes who have yet to earn a penny are threatened with jail time for misusing Social Security cards, the Bush administration appears set this week to turn the ailing government pension program into an international relief fund for illegal alien workers who used counterfeit Social Security cards and stolen numbers to secure illegal jobs.

Unlike the bedtime stories I tell at night, I am not making this up.

This belated gift to the open-borders lobby and Mexican President Vicente Fox is part of a larger amnesty plan that has been in the works since before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. So, why exactly are we rewarding a country that has been obstinately opposed to the War on Terror? Go ask Mr. Brilliant, Karl Rove. This I do know: It couldn't have come at a worse time from either a fiscal or national security standpoint.~snip~

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c ... 1084uPlbV:: COSPONSORS(29), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)

Rep Barrett, J. Gresham [SC-3] - 7/22/2004 Rep Bradley, Jeb [NH-1] - 10/6/2004 Rep Culberson, John Abney [TX-7] - 7/22/2004 Rep Davis, Jo Ann [VA-1] - 7/15/2004 Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 7/22/2004 Rep Doolittle, John T. [CA-4] - 7/15/2004 Rep Duncan, John J., Jr. [TN-2] - 7/15/2004 Rep English, Phil [PA-3] - 7/15/2004 Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24] - 7/15/2004 Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 7/22/2004 Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. [VA-5] - 7/15/2004 Rep Goodlatte, Bob [VA-6] - 11/17/2004 Rep Hayworth, J. D. [AZ-5] - 7/15/2004 Rep Hostettler, John N. [IN-8] - 7/15/2004 Rep Johnson, Sam [TX-3] - 7/15/2004 Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 7/15/2004 Rep King, Steve [IA-5] - 7/15/2004 Rep Manzullo, Donald A. [IL-16] - 9/15/2004 Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [MI-11] - 9/15/2004 Rep Miller, Gary G. [CA-42] - 10/6/2004 Rep Miller, Jeff [FL-1] - 7/15/2004 Rep Norwood, Charlie [GA-9] - 7/15/2004 Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 7/22/2004 Rep Royce, Edward R. [CA-40] - 7/15/2004 Rep Sessions, Pete [TX-32] - 9/15/2004 Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 7/15/2004 Rep Sullivan, John [OK-1] - 7/15/2004 Rep Tancredo, Thomas G. [CO-6] - 7/15/2004 Rep Whitfield, Ed [KY-1] - 7/22/2004 Expressing the disapproval of the House of Representatives of the Social Security totalization agreement between the United States and Mexico. (Introduced in House)

HRES 720 IH 108th CONGRESS 2d Session ________

Totalization: Sellout of the American Worker (Bush Admin & Illegal Immigration) Eagle Forum ^ | 11/17/04 | Phyllis Schlafly
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1285041/posts

AuntB

You can also go to NumbersUSA and fax congress for free.

The letter's are already written out. You just have to register.

http://numbersusa.com/index It's at the top of the page, flashing red.