bobbyw24
05-13-2010, 06:28 PM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who's running for Senate as an independent, said Friday that providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants will help keep Social Security solvent — an idea he favors over his opponent's suggestion to raise the eligibility age for benefits.
http://apathetic-usa.com/images/NumbersUSA.jpg
Crist told The Associated Press there are as many as 14 million illegal immigrants in the country as part of an underground economy. If they paid into the Social Security system, it would help increase the worker-to-retiree ratio.
"It's certainly worth a very good debate and research," Crist said. "If there are people here that aren't paying into the system, which everyone agrees there are, that's in essence a form of fraud on the system."
The idea would be to provide a path to citizenship similar to the failed immigration overhaul proposed by President George W. Bush, former Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Crist said he doesn't support amnesty, but rather an "earned path to citizenship." Illegal immigrants would have to apply for citizenship and be placed in line behind people already seeking it.
Crist was running as a Republican until deciding last month to run on his own after falling badly behind tea party favorite Marco Rubio in primary polls. The governor switched his voter registration to no party affiliation this week.
Rubio has proposed raising the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits for people now under 55, as well as restructuring the formula for increasing benefits to account for inflation.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnuleDM_uWttPLUXpqsY1FUGsIiwD9FM59JG0
http://apathetic-usa.com/images/NumbersUSA.jpg
Crist told The Associated Press there are as many as 14 million illegal immigrants in the country as part of an underground economy. If they paid into the Social Security system, it would help increase the worker-to-retiree ratio.
"It's certainly worth a very good debate and research," Crist said. "If there are people here that aren't paying into the system, which everyone agrees there are, that's in essence a form of fraud on the system."
The idea would be to provide a path to citizenship similar to the failed immigration overhaul proposed by President George W. Bush, former Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Crist said he doesn't support amnesty, but rather an "earned path to citizenship." Illegal immigrants would have to apply for citizenship and be placed in line behind people already seeking it.
Crist was running as a Republican until deciding last month to run on his own after falling badly behind tea party favorite Marco Rubio in primary polls. The governor switched his voter registration to no party affiliation this week.
Rubio has proposed raising the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits for people now under 55, as well as restructuring the formula for increasing benefits to account for inflation.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnuleDM_uWttPLUXpqsY1FUGsIiwD9FM59JG0