I got this in my email this morning . . . has anybody else heard about this:

Dear Mrs. XXXX,

It's a sad day for me when I have to authorize a lawsuit against our own government.

But that's what I had to do today. Was it the right thing? I hope you'll let me know by signing our petition to the State Department and the Social Security Administration to get them to release the information on the so-called Totalization Agreement with Mexico.

For three years, TSCL has been warning you about a possible treaty-like agreement with Mexico that will grant Social Security benefits to more Mexican citizens who work in this country, even if they retire back to Mexico, and even if they work here illegally!

Naturally, when you hear of something this silly, it's hard to believe. So I wanted to see a copy of the agreement for myself, and review it with TSCL's legal and Social Security experts. But the Social Security Administration and the US Department of State won't even let us look at the agreement!

Nor will they share their estimates of the costs on American taxpayers. You see, if even hundreds of thousands more people -- not even American citizens -- are allowed to collect Social Security benefits, then that cost will have to be borne by us and our children, probably in the form of reduced benefits for us.

After three years of asking, it's time to get tough. So today we filed two lawsuits to get to the truth. The suits demand that the State Department and the Social Security Administration turn over the documents we've been asking for.

What can you do? Plenty.

First, please read the lawsuits if you care to, and a public statement, that are all on our web site as of this morning (we don't hide things here at TSCL!).

Second, please sign the petition in support of the lawsuit and urging these agencies to release the information we believe they're required to under the law.

And third, lawsuits are expensive. If you've got a spare $10 or $25 that you can contribute to help us pay for the legal help we need, I'd really appreciate it.

I don't expect these agencies to roll over easily. We'll probably have a protracted fight on our hands. But we'll persevere, and hopefully we'll triumph. Together.

Thank you for your help.
God Bless,

Ralph McCutchen
TSCL Chairman

TSCL is a nonprofit organization whose members are active senior citizens concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. We get no government support of any kind.

Please click the following link if you would like to unsubscribe or change your information: http://www.tscl.org/Subscription.asp

TREA Senior Citizens League, 909 N. Washington St., #300 Alexandria, VA 22314

Does anyone know anything more about this?