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Two years ago today, June 29^th, 2004, is a date you'll want to remember. You should also remember the term “Totalization Agreement”. Why are these two things important, you may ask? The date is when Jo Anne Barnhart, commissioner of the Social Security Administration, signed a totalization agreement with Mexican official Dr. Santiago Levy Algazi, Director General, of the Mexican Social Security Institute. Why is that a big deal? It's a big deal because such agreements remove the requirement that citizens of either country contribute to both social security systems if they worked in both countries. According to Barnhart, the deal “promotes equity and fairness for workers who divide their careers between our two countries.”

What!!! Who wouldn't want to promote equity and fairness? In this case, no U.S. citizen that's not interested in giving a huge chunk of our (already overburdened) Social Security budget to Mexican citizens, that's who. One problem lies in the fact that there are far more Mexican workers working here, both legally and illegally, than the reverse. In addition, there is a huge economic disparity between our two countries. This agreement lets illegal Mexican immigrants working here qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits when they retire, either here, or in Mexico. If you're not good and pissed off enough yet, this next item might get you a bit more riled up. The illegal immigrants that are potentially getting these benefits can now qualify for them with only 6 quarters of work, vs. 40 quarters before the agreement was signed. Oh, and their spouses and dependents are eligible for benefits too. Wouldn't want to leave anyone out in the cold, you know.

To be fair, we already have such totalization agreements with 20 other countries, including England, South Korea, Canada and Germany. Why is the same type of agreement with Mexico such an outrage? For one thing, we don't have many Germans or Koreans wading across the Rio Grande to pick lettuce. The same can't be said for citizens from our neighbor to the south. Another key difference with the Mexican agreement is that Mexicans make up a far greater proportion of our illegal immigrant population than citizens from any other country.

Will this agreement cost us anything? What do you think? According to official Social Security Administration estimates, we'll spend an extra $650 million by 2050. Naturally, these estimates were provided by the agency that cooked up the whole scheme, so you may take them with a grain of salt. Here's why. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the oversight office of the federal government, The SSA's numbers fail to account for illegal Mexican immigrants that will be eligible for benefits. To make the numbers even more suspect, they make no allowance for the fact that, once details of this gold mine come to light, Mexicans will come racing over the borders in even greater numbers than they do now.

Are there any good things at all to come from this agreement? Sure, there are. About 3,000 U.S. workers will save their employers about $140 million in Mexican Social Security taxes in the first years after the agreement takes effect. Wowee!! It's lookin' better all the time!

About the only good news is that this agreement hasn't taken effect yet. After the Bush Administration submits the agreement to Congress, there will be a 60 day window, after which the agreement becomes binding. Congress must adopt a counter agreement to deny the totalization agreement or you can kiss goodbye the meager Social Security benefits you stand to get at this point. Contact your congressional representative before it's too late.