Thread: Totalization With Mexico Could "Total" Social Secu

http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/minton/20 ... total.html

Monday, April 18, 2005
Totalization With Mexico Could "Total" Social Security
Recently, I received a letter from Edward I. Nelson, the Chairman of United States Border Control, regarding a proposed “Totalization Treaty/Agreement� with Mexico. This is not a subject with which I am unfamiliar, as I wrote an article about it while I was a reporter for Talon News/GOPUSA.com, viewable here. (I have to refer you to this website, as the archives at Talon News are no longer available since the “Gannon-gate� ordeal.)

Totalization agreements were begun to help employees sent abroad to still have enough credits to draw Social Security benefits with the contributions paid in total in the countries in which the employee worked. Most such agreements -- the United States has 20 -- are with European countries.

In his letter, Mr. Nelson explains that past Totalization Agreements have had little impact on U.S. taxpayers because they involved only a few thousand workers who were sent abroad by their employers, and that the reciprocating countries also sent a reasonably equal number of workers to work, and pay taxes, in the United States.

However, with the State Department and the Social Security Administration having now signed onto the idea of Totalization with Mexico, it has become an issue that could devastate the American Social Security system, and therefore, an issue which needs to be brought to the attention of EVERY AMERICAN! As I view it, this literally has the potential to bankrupt our retirement system.

Should the President sign this treaty, it would instantly make millions of Mexicans, both legal AND ILLEGAL, eligible for S.S. benefits. Naturally, this comes at a time when the President (of whom, in most matters, I am a strong supporter) is going around the country trying to convince Americans that the Social Security system is in crisis…and with that, I agree!

The Social Security Administration would have us believe that illegal workers would not qualify under a Totalization Agreement with Mexico. However, according to azcentral.com, an Inspector General's report says that the SSA "doesn't consider the work-authorization status of the individual when they earned the wages. It only considers whether the individual can prove he or she paid Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes as part of this work." And, even IF the claim that Illegal workers were not eligible were true, the writing on the wall is that a general amnesty is on the horizon, which would immediately make ALL illegals (and their dependants) eligible

Further complicating this issue is the fact that once a beneficiary of this Treaty returns to Mexico, his/her spouse and dependants also become eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. Can you imagine the cost to the S.S. system? According to the Center for Immigration Studies, (http://www.cis.org), in 2000, there were an estimated 9,177,000 Mexicans in the United States (4,808,000 are here illegally), compared to a TOTAL of 3,831,000 foreigners from ALL other countries with whom the United States has Totalization agreements; nearly 2.5 times as many!

Add to all this mess what many see as an all-but-certain push for a blanket amnesty for all illegals, and the impact on the S.S. system will be disastrous should a Totalization agreement with Mexico be authorized. There would be so little reciprocation from the Mexican side of such an agreement that it may as well not even exist. The reason I say this is that, according to the CIS website, the SSA estimates that there are only “3,000 current American workers and their employers (that) would benefit from a Totalization program.�

A program such as this will only further encourage illegal immigration to the United States. You see, it takes 40 YEARS to qualify for Mexico’s retirement system - and even then you are only entitled to receive back the amount that you have paid into the system. Kind of makes America sound like the promised land, doesn’t it?


And, since it would relieve the Mexican government from having to use its resources take care of its own citizens, the Mexican government would inevitably even further encourage its citizens to illegally migrate to the U.S. That is a no-brainer. I mean, as it is, they already publish manuals advising their citizens how to safely break into the U.S. without detection.

Now, here is the kicker. Even I was surprised to learn that all that needs to happen for a Totalization Agreement to pass is that the President sign it - that’s it. It DOES NOT need to be passed in Congress. However, there is hope! If, within 60 days of the president’s signature, Congress repeals the treaty, it is then nullified. This is where you, the American public, DESPARATELY need to get involved.

As Mr. Nelson’s letter points out, on Jan. 4 of this year, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), “introduced H. Res. 20, a bill to disapprove the Totalization Treaty between the U.S. and Mexico.�

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Click on the link above to read the letters.

I was weak in the knees...and still am...thank God for Rep. Hayworth...

RR

Something is brewing. Bush and Fox seem to have a plan.
I just don't think Fox is going to offer any plans other than the American (host country as he call it) Social Security plan.

Headlines: Mexican president contemplates pension plan - Open:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... sions.html

Here are the cosponsors of the bill expressing disapproval for Mexican Totalization. It's got to be 60 days since this was signed. I'll have to find the date. It would be nice to think this could be stopped. It's the ultimate irony with Bush pushing SS reform. What a disappointment he is. Powell was still Sec of state when it was signed.


http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c ... 1084uPlbV::
COSPONSORS(29), ALPHABETICAL

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

I don't know how this slipped by me.

IMO, this needs attention. Could this be one of the biggies that could be "slipped into law" without much notice?

That is not the worst part of this bill.

In a report by the Government Accountability Office in September 2003 concerning the solvency of the Social Security trust fund, the figures at that time did not directly consider the estimated millions of unauthorized workers in the U.S. With the new totalization agreement, unauthorized illegal immigrants could qualify for Social Security benefits with as few as 6 coverage credits as opposed to the previously required 40, combined with earnings from Mexico. Additionally the illegal worker could qualify for partial benefits after only 18 months while the American worker would still have to work 10 years in order to vest. And further to benefits being paid out to just the worker, family members of Mexican workers would be entitled to benefits as dependents and survivors, even if not residing in the U.S.

They would only have to work one and a half year to qualify, can you believe it!

See article: http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-1614.html

needless to say, I'm not surprised to see my represenatives name is not on there