I have a question about Jimmy Carter and social security...

[madmom]

I've been going round and round with a repug about social security and who did what to it, now he's saying that Jimmy Carter gave social security to immigrants, without them paying in. I referred him to the social security internet myths website but he insists that the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum in Georgia "clearly touts this as one of the achievements of the Carter administration." Once the immigrants were given resident status, they were issued soc. sec. cards and were allowed to apply for benefits.He also said this was according to the US department of immigration. Does any one have any info on this, I can't find anything that gives any detail as to what Carter actually did for soc sec. I think I'm just to tired and should give up till tomorrow.Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[applegrove]

1. Well - if Jimmy did that, he was brilliant. Even before they were

documented, they were paying for their retirement. And then, what? One Amnesty after another under Reagan. See how smart that was?

[cynatnite]

2. Tell him to prove it...

We shouldn't have to do all the work to prove these people's assertions.

[Tace]

3. Check This Out To Rub In His Face

Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions

By EDUARDO PORTER -- The New York Times

STOCKTON, Calif. - Since illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, Ángel Martínez has done backbreaking work, harvesting asparagus, pruning grapevines and picking the ripe fruit. More recently, he has also washed trucks, often working as much as 70 hours a week, earning $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Martínez, 28, has not given much thought to Social Security's long-term financial problems. But Mr. Martínez - who comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico and hiked for two days through the desert to enter the United States near Tecate, some 20 miles east of Tijuana - contributes more than most Americans to the solvency of the nation's public retirement system.

Last year, Mr. Martínez paid about $2,000 toward Social Security and $450 for Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from his wages. Yet unlike most Americans, who will receive some form of a public pension in retirement and will be eligible for Medicare as soon as they turn 65, Mr. Martínez is not entitled to benefits.

He belongs to a big club. As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.

http://worldnewstrust.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=183&PHPSESSID=95c95f5e80f94203a86b67c910f08a6a

I ran the story April 5, 2005, on the World News Trust site. However, the jump now leads to a New York Times archive page that charges to read the full item. You can probably google and find the item in it's entirety somewhere like Common Dreams.

[Lasher]

4. This is easy. You're gonna love this.

Your repug friend is mindlessly repeating part of a string of lies currently being emailed and posted at web sites. Here's the particular lie in question:

***

Q:Which Political Party decided to start giving
annuity payments to immigrants?

AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic
Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at
age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The
Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even
though they never paid a dime into it!

***

But here are the facts:

Neither immigrants nor anyone else is able to collect Social Security benefits without someone paying Social Security payroll taxes into the system. The question confuses the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program with Social Security. SSI is a federal welfare program and no contributions, from immigrants or citizens or anyone else, is required for eligibility. Under certain conditions, immigrants can qualify for SSI benefits. The SSI program was an initiative of the Nixon Administration and was signed into law by President Nixon on October 30, 1972.

Here are a couple of links to an unimpeachable source that exposes this string of lies for what it is:

http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html

http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html

And here is another good link:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/ss-origins.htm