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Hi, this is Roger's wife. I have been seeing
a lot of emotional messages along this line--much of it from Mike McGavick who
is running for US Senate against Maria Cantwell in Washington state. I had
to write in to clarify some things. I work for Social Security.
Social Security administers two separate programs--the regular Social Security
retirement & disability programs, which are funded by people who pay into
the Social Security system & their employers---and Supplemental Security
Income (SSI), which is a federal welfare for elderly and disabled who qualify
for little or no regular Social Security. Employers are required to
collect Social Security taxes from ALL their employees, whether they are
citizens, legal aliens or illegal aliens with fake identification. ALL
employers are also required to pay into the Social Security system for their
employees, in addition to what they collect. Illegal aliens may be earning
social security credits, but they can NEVER collect social security checks
without definitive proof of lawful permanent residence or citizenship. So,
illegals are having social security taxes withheld from every paycheck, even
though they will never qualify to receive anything in return. As for
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), virtually no permanent resident aliens that
got their immigration after 8/22/1996 can ever qualify. Congress made an
exception to allow disabled or elderly refugees to qualify for SSI,
but only for 5 years after they enter. Then their benefit checks are cut
off abruptly!
I also wish to comment on the letterwriter's
experiences seeing "illegals" shopping at Macy's etc. The letterwriter's
mother was trained to be frugal, in a style that is typical of Europeans,
descendants of Pilgrims & Puritans, and survivors of the Great
Depression. The Mexican government, for one, has discouraged saving money,
because of frequent changes in their money system. Every time this
happened, all the money a person had saved in a bank, became worthless. I
witnessed this when I accompanied a high school group to study in Cuernavaca,
Mexico. The couple that hosted the teacher & myself lived in a
middle-income neighborhood, though most of the homes were much grander than
theirs. Raul had a college degree in engineering, but had gone into
private business (road construction) shortly after college, some 35 years
before. In his late 40s, he suffered a heart-attack and sold his business,
along with all the machinery he had acquired. He put the money in the bank
while he recuperated and decided what to do next in his life. The peso was
devalued by the government, and then when he went back to work, all his money
was only enough to buy a beat-up truck and a small carwash business. So
you see, that's why Mexicans spend their money, instead of saving
it.
Hope this clarifies some issues that are quite
emotional right now, and in my opinion, misleading.
Roger's wife
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- [TMIC] social security Linda
- Re: [TMIC] social security ROGER C PRATT
