04/19/2007
Earnings Suspense Continues To Grow And Grow
Pittsburgh Tribune Review


The Earnings Suspense File of the Social Security Administration is dwarfing Jack's giant beanstalk. But unlike his legendary legumes that stopped sprouting when they reached a castle in the sky, the file continues to grow as if by magic.
It increased 93 percent in the five most recent years data were available (from 2000) to $585 billion in 2004. There is no end in sight barring the complete collapse of the Social Security system.
"The file is a mechanism we have that makes sure people's earnings are accurate," says Social Security spokesman Mark Hinkle. "If the name or number or both on the W-2 don't match Social Security records, the earnings are not credited. There are many reasons why somebody's earnings end up on the file."
That includes typos and transposed digits, clerical errors, name changes because of marriage or divorce and misuse of Social Security numbers (such as illegals using forged or fabricated documents to get jobs in the U.S.).
But the Social Security Administration does not indicate what percentage of the potential pot of gold is due to illegals. The agency might be able to correct those earnings records at a future date, he says.
Granting American citizenship to the roughly 12 million illegals would allow them to access untold billions of those dollars, warns Brad Phillips, spokesman for The Senior Citizens League in Alexandria, Va. The organization describes itself as a 1.2 million-member nonpartisan group founded in 1992 to serve senior citizens.
Minimal workplace enforcement (like when American employers hire illegals) is why the file almost has doubled in half a decade, says Phillips. "Americans are not allowed to profit from their crimes but illegals can profit from their crimes," he says. Violations include foreigners crossing the borders illegally, working illegally and stealing Social Security numbers and identities. "We feel that's wrong," Phillips says.
Twelve million instant Americans will bankrupt the system that much sooner.
But don't blame Social Security's inspector general, Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr. This is what he told the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 16, 2006:
"We know the scope of the unauthorized noncitizen issue is significant, but SSA cannot share adequate information with the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) to provide truly useful information. For example, these laws make it impossible for SSA to provide DHS information regarding even the most egregious employers who routinely submit large numbers of inaccurate wage statements in which employee SSNs (Social Security numbers) and names do not match SSA records.
"Most of the information necessary to address the (suspense file) problem is in SSA's possession, but SSA must remain mute; all of the authority to sanction employers and deter continued violations is in the IRS' hands but the IRS chooses not to act. The only greater surprise than this bureaucratic gridlock is the fact that the (suspense file) is not even larger than it is."
O'Carroll also said there was $520 billion in the Earnings Suspense File in 2003.

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