Whites More Likely Than Minorities
to Face Combat in U.S. Military

hites in the U.S. armed services are more likely than their fellow minority servicemen to see combat and suffer casualties, according to a report from the Pentagon.

The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness issued a report last month showing that whites are disproportionately assigned to combat positions in the military while blacks are frequently assigned to less dangerous administrative posts.

"Blacks tend to be concentrated in administrative and support jobs, not in combat jobs," the Pentagon report said. Blacks make up 21 percent of the enlisted force, but only 15 percent of infantry, armored, and artillery units. Blacks are about 12 percent of the U.S. population.

In support and administrative jobs, blacks account for 36 percent of all U.S. military personnel, and 27 percent of all medical and dental personnel in the armed forces.

In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, blacks made up 23 percent of the 550,000 troops deployed to the Gulf, and accounted for 17 percent of combat and non-combat deaths. In contrast, whites made up 71 percent of the U.S. Gulf forces, and accounted for 76 percent of the deaths. Hispanics were 4 percent of the forces, and accounted for 4 percent of the deaths.

Two black members of Congress, Reps. Charles Rangel, D-NY, and John Conyers Jr., D-MI, recently charged that blacks and the poor disproportionately shoulder the burden of armed service. They introduced legislation to reinstate military conscription.
"For those who say the poor fight better, I say give the rich a chance," said Rangel.

The Pentagon report disputed the charge, saying that the military is not manned mostly by the poor.

"As with all recruits, these young men and women are high school graduates with above-average aptitude; they are not the poor and uneducated," said the report.

It noted that 32 percent of recruits come from families where the father is a high school graduate, compared with 31 percent in the general population. The report also said that 21 percent of recruits have fathers with college degrees, compared to 30 percent of the general population of the same age group.

SOSEC

Elites Seek Social Security Benefits for Illegal Aliens

Crime pays.
At least it will for illegal aliens, if U.S. elites get their way.
Right now they're working with Mexican officials to find a way to make Mexican illegals eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits.
It's hard to believe the U.S. government would betray its own workers by giving away their retirement dollars to foreigners who broke our laws. But it's true.
Under a plan officials hope to finalize this year, as much as $345 billion could be drained from America's already financially shaky Social Security system and sent south of the border to pay benefits to Mexicans who once worked in the U.S., legally or illegally.
According to a report in the Washington Post, "White House and Mexican government officials say discussions on an agreement to align the Social Security systems of the two countries are informal and preliminary. But excerpts from an internal Social Security Administration memo obtained this month say the agreement 'is expected to move forward at an accelerated pace' with the support of both governments, and could be in force by next October."
The U.S. already has agreements with some 20 countries, mostly in Europe, to provide limited benefits to foreign nationals who worked in the U.S. and contributed to Social Security. Under current law, foreigners who worked in the U.S. illegally may obtain benefits only by becoming citizens or permanent legal residents. But negotiators plan to lift that restriction under pressure from Mexico.
The generosity would extend even to disability benefits.
People who work at least six months per year can qualify for disability benefits equal to two-thirds or more of their average salary. The system is already rife with fraud.
"Law firms and others out to make a quick buck place ads, particularly in towns near the Mexican border, urging people to seek Social Security disability benefits," reported Joel Mowbray in his analysis for National Review. "Along I-10 in El Paso, drivers can spot both English and Spanish-language billboards promising to help the 'disabled'; for people who heed the call of those billboards, the payout can be generous."
Under the plan being worked out, if a 24 year-old Mexican who worked illegally in the U.S. for three years presented documents from a friendly doctor and an IRS W-2 form or pay stubs showing $12,000 in annual earnings, he would be eligible for nearly $8,000 a year in disability income until age 65. If he dies before age 65, his family gets benefits, too. If he dies at age 60 and his widow lives to age 85, U.S. taxpayers would be paying out nearly half-a-million dollars for the illegal's benefits.
Because Social Security benefits are tied to a progressive schedule, low-income illegals stand to get back significantly more money than any they might have paid into the system.
By necessity, any Social Security number (SSN) given to an employer by an illegal alien is either stolen or fraudulent. Unfortunately, the Social Security Administration allows people to claim benefits for work histories with SSN's different from the one under which they apply for benefits.
That means foreigners who intend to defraud the system will have an easy time of it. According to the Washington Post, Mexican officials are pushing for "benefits to be adjusted upward for a legal Mexican worker who worked in the United States for some time illegally and paid into the Social Security system using a false Social Security number."
The system "does not track which work histories have been claimed for benefits - so someone could recycle W-2s or pay stubs used by someone else the week before, and [the Social Security Administration] would be none the wiser," said Mowbray. The system "only checks to make sure two different people aren't using the same current number while receiving benefits, not which numbers were used to claim the benefits."
At least one member of Congress has already denounced the plan.
"The proposed agreement is nothing more than a financial reward to those who have willingly and knowingly violated our immigration laws," said Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX. "Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration! How many more would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government paychecks for life?"
Elites expect a flood of Social Security benefits applications from Mexico after the agreement is signed, according to the Washington Post.
"The team of negotiators form the Social Security Administration and State Department working on the agreement already anticipate that the U.S. government will have to erect a new building in he embassy complex in Mexico City just to deal with the crush" of applicants, the paper said.
The agreement may be ready as early as February. One unnamed senior congressional staffer told reporters that "the deal is done; the announcement is all that's left."
But Rep. Paul said he hopes the agreement is sent to Congress for approval and not put into effect by executive order.
"We should be shoring up the system for those Americans who have paid in for decades, not expanding it to cover foreigners who have not," he said.