RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a rare occasion on this program when I am wrong, when I’m flat out wrong. I’m still not sure that I am, but when I am wrong, it’s so rare — I love doing things that don’t happen a lot. They’re exciting. We had a call in the first hour, or comment actually, Snerdley asked me, ‘Where does the tax revenue from fake Social Security cards held by illegal immigrants go?’ I automatically, using my intelligence guided by experience, said, ‘The government. The government will take it. They don’t care where it comes from.’ Taxes go to the government. I said, ‘The employers don’t hold on to this money. The government will find them.’
So I get this e-mail from Kenneth Jones Clark in Phoenix. Said, ‘Rush, I hate to contradict you…’ I know that’s tough. It’s tough for people to tell me. Some people love to tell me I’m wrong. But most people are haunted by it. They’re intimidated by it. ‘I hate to contradict you, but the money that is deducted from the paychecks of illegals does not go to the government. It goes directly back to the pocket of the employer. You must understand that the typical employer of illegals knows that he/she is employing illegals. Consequently, the employer is in a perfect position to rip off both the illegal who can’t make a complaint as well as the government who doesn’t know that the illegal is being employed. This is not some theory. It’s actually happening in most circumstances.’
The theory is if they report this, if they actually send the money to Washington under that Social Security number, that somebody in Washington, the tax authority clearinghouse will find out they are hiring illegals and there will be hell to pay. I guess that’s a possibility. But, there hasn’t been too much pursuit of illegals. They ramped it up recently to make it look like they are doing something about it. But they haven’t.
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RUSH: Susan in Hampton, Virginia. You’re next on the EIB network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you for taking my call. It is a great show today.
RUSH: My pleasure, thank you.
CALLER: I spoke with you before, about a year or so. This is B&B
Susan. I was remiss, also to not invite you —
RUSH: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. B&B Susan?
CALLER: That’s what you called me. Bed and breakfast.
RUSH: Oh, bed and breakfast. I thought you were talking about the after dinner liqueur B & B. I was wondering —
CALLER: No.
RUSH: Two alchies in a row calling the program. Just kidding, John. Just kidding. Still playing off the New York Times image of him. Yeah, the bed and breakfast owner.
CALLER: Right, right. I should have thanked you before, too. You really inspired my husband and I to do the bed and breakfast and you are on all our clock radios in the B & B.
RUSH: So it’s working out well for you.
CALLER: Working out very well. Very well. Because we followed your advice. We did it the best possible and it has paid off.
RUSH: Well, sounds like you are enjoying it, too, which is key. Follow your passions and you’ll succeed.
CALLER: Exactly. I’m calling you today because I did not want you to think you were wrong. You are not wrong. It depends on how you look at it. I believe Kenneth was talking about a situation where the employer willfully knows that the employee has a bad number and therefore fails to send in the taxes, which is fraudulent and against the law. There are many cases which the employee provides the —
RUSH: Social Security number.
CALLER: Exactly. Even with the I-9 regulations, the employer checks the documentation and it looks fine to him.
RUSH: Right. Sometimes it a stolen Social Security number. Still fraudulent. Legitimate number. You are saying sometimes employers get fooled hiring illegals who have made themselves look legal by virtue of stealing a Social Security number.
CALLER: Exactly. Well, years ago, for years and years and years, the Social Security administration would send the employer a notice that said, ‘This number does not match up with this name or this digit.’ You may have a digit off or whatever, and the employer would go back and verify things. And, somewhere along the line, I believe it was the Clinton administration, that stopped. And I could be wrong on that.
RUSH: Well, the central point, the main element of your call is to try to convince me that I was not wrong.
CALLER: You were not wrong.
RUSH: Audience comes to my defense constantly. I am almost sad that I wasn’t wrong because as I say, it is unexpected. Doesn’t happen much.
CALLER: Missed opportunity.
RUSH: Well, people say I’m out of touch. Lost touch with other people.
CALLER: No.
RUSH: A lot of people are wrong a lot.
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: It makes them feel better when I admit I’m wrong or proven that I was wrong. Looks like I was half wrong and half right. The problem is that I usually turn out to be right even when I think I’m wrong. It is a real challenge for me to be wrong. I appreciate your call. Glad to have you out there. Congratulations on your B & B.
CALLER: Thank you.