Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Two lives, one Social Security number

I honestly have to wonder what is going on with our government. OK — perhaps that is not really all that necessary. I think I have an idea of what is going on with our government. Today's blog has to do with this article:

Two lives, one Social Security number - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com

One of the most interesting lines in the article is:

So it's possible -- in fact common -- that employees’ names and numbers don't match. When that happens, no one gets credit for the taxes paid by the worker. The money simply ends up in the U.S. Treasury. Since 1983, more than $500 billion in uncredited Social Security wages have been earned by so-called "no match" employees like Rodriguez. That hidden financial benefit for the government is one reason, Holli suspects, that agencies don't act more quickly on reports of SSN-only identity theft.

And that stinks of corruption in a way that makes me mad. This is a clear violation of the needed checks and balances required to keep a government operating in accordance with the law. I can understand that government resources are strained as it concerns immigration issues — but refusing to act on reported criminal activity is in itself a criminal act! And so I must conclude that this is being done with malice and ill intent so as to improperly collect taxes that are not being properly accounted for.

The immigration issue is tremendously complex and there are no easy answers. Being an immigrant myself, I understand the difficulties people have in coming to the USA to work. But it is not an excuse to steal someone's Social Security number or affect the identity (and potentially the benefits) of innocent, law-abiding citizens. This really has to stop. Part of the solution is to strengthen the economies and societies of places where immigrants come from. I am sure most illegal immigrants would rather stay home if they could earn enough to make end meet and have a chance to prosper. Another part is to deal with the immigrants we already have here — amnesty and integration into the system is the best way to deal with a situation that is completely out of hand. Yet another part is to reform the system so as to gain control of new immigrants wanting to enter the country. Walls, in my opinion, are not the solution. A system that accounts for all incoming immigrants will go a long way to curbing illegality and the underground system that now exists. Given the choice, I think most people would rather come here legally than illegally. For them, it is safer, cheaper, and more in line with the dreams of prosperity that drive them to come here. For the USA, this would be a return to reasonable order and control. It seems like a win-win situation.

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