If You are Illegal, Passport and Social Security Numbers in One Day

I spent three hours yesterday at the Consulate, trying to obtain a passport renewal for my 82 year old mother who wants to travel to visit her sister and brother she had not seen for a long time. It may be her last trip.

Because her passport had expired in 1998, it must be verified that she is still a Romanian citizen and that she has not given up her citizenship to another country without their knowledge, even though I provided them with her resident alien U.S. re-entry permit (a form of passport for legal immigrants) that also expired in late 90s, and her resident alien card.

The Consulate must check that she is a legal entity, that she exists, that she’s still a Romanian citizen, said the condescending clerk in the consular office, for the fee of $81 in cash.  How do they know that she has not sworn allegiance to another country in the interim?

After an alleged wait period of 60 days, she will be eligible for a new passport, providing that the right paperwork, filled out correctly according to bureaucratic speak, name and surname, her deceased parents, my deceased father, her life story, etc.  will be filed. I have no clue what the fee will be or how long that would take, hopefully her siblings will still be alive and mom will be ambulatory and/or able to travel.

But that is not all. I must then proceed with the renewal of her U.S. re-entry permit, facing the legal immigration bureaucracy gauntlet of the United States, and I have no idea how long that would take, considering the backlog of 4 million legal immigrants who are awaiting patiently the resolution of their cases, and the priority that the flood of illegal aliens from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and El Salvador are receiving.

If mom was an illegal alien freshly arrived from Mexico, she would be getting her passport and visa on the same day, and from the Social Security office.

That is exactly what happened to a busload of Mexicans who arrived from Laredo in Memphis, Tennessee. According to the video posted by therightscoop.com, an American citizen confronted some of the members of the group who spoke no English, had been in the U.S. one day, but already had Social Security numbers and new Mexican passports issued not by the Mexican Consulate but by the Social Security office in Memphis. http://therightscoop.com/report-obama-admin-giving-illegals-new-passports-and-social-security-numbers-video/

As the videographer says in his citizen video, “They should get these [passports] in Mexico. We need jobs, we have no money in our country, we are giving it all away, and look at this, our tax dollars hard at work, there’s your bus full of people, there’s the Social Security office, and they are giving passports away to illegals.

Chances are, after writing about this egregious issue and the concerned American citizen videographer, my mom will never get travel papers from the United States.  

We have to stop the flood of illegal aliens into our country who claim bogus refugee status.  They are here for jobs because of bad economic conditions in their countries, and to receive welfare from the strapped American taxpayers. American businesses want illegals here for cheap labor, replacing American workers. We have our own severe economic problems in the United States and our middle class is struggling under the heavy burden of taxation, the loss of jobs, and the lack of job creation.

 

 

Diability Insurance and the Social Security Stripping of Funds

John Q Taxpayer wrote in a commentary on the web:

“I woke up this morning and the whole world was backwards. Right is now wrong, illegal immigration is an act of love, self-defense is not permitted, the rich are evil, God is banned, the government of the people is out to get the people, the truth is forbidden, the ignorant are in charge of the intelligent, communism is good, robbery is overlooked, free speech is regulated, money is evil.”

Illegal aliens have more rights and benefits than American citizens, personal property is fair game because it was not earned, it was stolen from the lazy and uneducated, living and breathing causes the earth to go into global warming Armageddon, criminal enemies and jihadis are welcomed with open arms through the southern border with a Club Med socialist red carpet to speed up our demise, sovereignty is selfish and passé, speaking English is offensive to invading ethnic groups, we are now global citizens, the flag, the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance are racist, our culture and Christianity are insulting to primitive cultures who should have stayed in the hell hole they came from if they are offended,  and being American is shameful and socially unjust.

“Somebody wake me up, this must be a nightmare.”

Unfortunately it is the “new norm.” We are brainwashed to this “new norm” every day through manufactured crisis after manufactured crisis. The low information voters are convinced that our economy is booming, we don’t have almost 100 million Americans out of work, there are no discouraged workers, unemployment went down below six percent, and life could not be better as long as the welfare checks keep rolling in. Would the cash cow not run out of money eventually, even printing them ad nauseam?

Data from the U.S. Treasury show that “Social Security retirement and disability programs have dedicated resources sufficient to cover benefits for the next 19 years, until 2033. However, the projected depletion date for the Separate Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund is only two years away, in late 2016.” Because in 2016 “dedicated revenues are projected to be depleted and will only cover 80 percent of scheduled benefit payments,” the report recommends that “legislation will be needed to address this financial imbalance.”

http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2587.aspx

At the end of 2013 11 million people were receiving DI payments. The number of people receiving DI benefits grew by 0.9 percent. This growth increase reflects the gradual aging of the population as well as increases in the insured population. (pp. 35-36) http://www.ssa.gov/oact/tr/2014/tr2014.pdf

According to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), an employer must withhold three separate taxes from employee wages:

- 6.2 percent Social Security tax

- 1.45 percent Medicare tax

- 0.9 percent Medicare surtax for employees earning over $200,000 (began in 2013)

The FICA law requires employers to match the 6.2 percent Social Security tax, the 1.45 percent Medicare tax, but not the 0.9 Medicare surtax. http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/tax-info/payroll-taxes/employers-responsibility-fica-payroll-taxes.aspx

Social Security Disability Insurance protects more than 160 million American workers with an average benefit of $1,146 per month (May 2014), slightly above the 2014 federal poverty line for an individual of $972. “For more than 80 percent of beneficiaries, Disability Insurance is their main source of income. For one-third, it is their only source of income.” http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SSDIBrief.pdf

Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew testified before Congress in August 2014, proposing a change in Social Security funding.  From the 6.3 percent contribution, 9/10 of one percent goes to the disability insurance fund which is so tapped that will allegedly be insolvent by mid-2016. Secretary Lew wants to shift a couple of tens of one percent from the Social Security fund to the disability fund.

According to Dick Morris, the disability insurance (DI) fund is stressed by the extra 20 percent increase in disability recipients. Why is there such a sudden increase of disabled people under this administration when the U.S. population grew by only 4 points “since Obama became president?”  Morris explained that this growth is attributed to “shaky diagnoses that are highly subjective such as back pain, psychological conditions, migraines, and not from serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.” He is of the opinion that funding such subjective claims by “stripping money from Social Security is a horrible decision.” https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/147f417f22124eda

Social Security’s establishment 80 years ago was necessary to “ensure the security of the men, women and children of the nation against the hazards and vicissitudes of life.” It is those who take advantage of the system dishonestly who can actually work but choose not to, and illegal aliens who draw benefits that are problematic.

 

Will Chained Consumer Price Index Punish the Taxpayers?

Leave it to government to try to reduce the budget deficit on the backs of elderly taxpayers. Bureaucrats have decided that the cost of living adjustments (COLAs) have been too generous and must be scaled back. COLAs are made yearly to offset the loss of purchasing power of money due to inflation.

Simply described, inflation refers to a sustained increase in the general price level. Inflation is calculated as an average since not all prices rise, some remain the same, and some even drop. Rapid inflation and currency depreciation can occur if money is overprinted (quantitative easing), by increasing the money stock without the backing of goods and services to justify the printing.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates the unemployment rate and two types of inflation: The Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The traditional measurement has been CPI for all consumers, by using a “basket of goods” which changes over time. The “basket of goods” used to calculate inflation include eight major categories with more than 200 groups:

-          food and beverage (cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, snacks, restaurant meals)

-          housing (rent, owners’ rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture, water and sewage fees)

-          apparel (men’s shirts and sweaters, women’s dresses, jewelry)

-          transportation (new cars, airline tickets, gas, car insurance, car tolls, auto registration fees)

-          medical care (prescription drugs, medical supplies, doctor’s services, eyeglasses, eye care, hospital services)

-          recreation (TV, cable, pets, pet products, sports equipment, admission tickets)

-          education and communication (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories)

-          other goods and services (tobacco, haircuts, personal services, funerals).

Sample goods in each category are chosen “using scientific statistical procedures.” For example, in the apple category, a 4.4 pound bag of golden delicious apples, U.S. extra fancy grade is used. As a consumer, I prefer Gala and Fuji apples.

http://www.bls.gov/dolfaq/bls_ques3.htm

Sales and excise taxes directly associated with the price of specific goods and services are also included in CPI calculations. Income, Social Security taxes, investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance are not included by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in CPI calculations.

Since inflation rate has been reported for January (1.6 %), February (2.0 %), and March (1.5 %), (http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/) and prices in grocery stores and at the gas pump contradict the rosy picture, I am not convinced that food and gasoline prices are included in the CPI currently.

Generic CPI is important because it is a powerful policy control. CPI-W is used to calculate cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security retirement benefits. CPI-U is used to calculate “annual inflation adjustments to personal income tax brackets,” affecting outlays and revenues. Outlays are government-speak for spending. www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32293.pdf

Since 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published a Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) in order to report CPI “free of substitution bias.” Substitution is an economic term which refers to consumers who change their buying pattern as a direct result of changing relative prices. Consumers buy goods and services more when their prices increase slower over time. If prices rise sharply, consumers substitute those goods.

Policy-makers believe this substitution effect protects consumers from the full effect of rising prices. Neither CPI-W nor CPI-U entirely accounts for substitution thus overstating “the impact of inflation on consumer well-being.” (Julie M. Whittaker, The Chained Consumer Price Index: What Is It and Would It Be Appropriate for Cost-of-Living Adjustments, May 8, 2013)

If I have to switch the quality and type of food I buy (substitute it) for a cheaper or different alternative, it does affect my standard of living. I have insulated myself from higher prices (inflation) but the quality of what I eat has gone down.

Accounting for consumer substitution, the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI-U) has increased less than CPI-U or CPI-W. Politicians argue that less cost of living adjustments (COLAs) should be made to various benefits.

To decrease the budget deficit, lawmakers recommended in reports such as the “2010 Simpson-Bowles” and the April 2013 President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, a government-wide replacement of the CPI-U and CPI-W with the Chained Consumer Price Index  (C-CPI-U) “when calculating automatic adjustments to inflation-indexed federal tax programs and individual tax provisions.”

Wage rates, pensions, interest payments on bonds, income taxes, and many other benefits would be indexed based on the Chained Consumer Price Index which would take into account the substitution effect.

Indexing Social Security benefits, federal and military pensions based on the Chained Consumer Price Index formula will decrease the population’s standard of living if prices increase at an above-average rate. The elderly spend more on health care and prices for such services have increased at an above-average rate. (CRS Report RL32293, Julie M. Whittaker, May 8, 2013, p. 14)

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has calculated that, if the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI-U) will be used:

-          Government revenues between FY2014 and FY2023 will increase by $123.7 billion from the indexation of tax code provisions.

-          The cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security benefits will result in a decline in outlays of $127.2 billion in the same time period.

-          The cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for federal and military pensions would decline in outlays of $37.5 billion in the same time period.

(Julia M. Whittaker, CRS Report RL32293, May 8, 2013, pp. 15-16)

Once again, switching formulas to the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI-U) and manipulating the math, the government out-of-control spenders win and the retirees, the elderly, the pensioners, and the saving taxpayers lose.