NAVY VETERAN HAS WAITED 2 YEARS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

BAKER AND ANIMAL CARE SPECIALIST
TONY ROSE,
HONORABLY DISCHARGED AS A US CITIZEN FROM THE MILITARY,
PAID INTO SOCIAL SECURITY WORKING IN THE U.S. FOR 30 YEARS AND NOW CANNOT COLLECT HIS PENSION


As Veteran's Day approaches, 67 Year Old Tony Rose and his lawyer are wondering what additional rocks they have to look under to find his lawful Social Security Pension.

He was born in Canada and his family moved to New York when he was a child and became dual Canadian and US Citizens. After Tony's Navy discharge he worked in the US for over 3 decades, paying state and federal taxes and Social Security.

In 2006 when Tony applied for his pension he was informed that the US Department of Homeland Security had revoked his US citizenship and did not recognize his Canadian citizenship. He has attempted to resolve this matter for over 2 years and has been without a pension during that period.The Social Security Administration will not begin his pension payments until his citizenship issue is resolved. He has been trying to work this matter through a lawyer, the VA, his local representatives in government (congressional level) and directly through the Social Security Office.

No one seems to know what to do, who should take action and who has responsibility. Letters directly to the presidential campaign received no response. The Inspector General of the US has been notified and Tony has camped out in his local Congressional Representative's Office on numerous occasions and been turned away.

The veteran has lived in the United States since 1946 having moved from Windsor, Ontario, Canada to Detroit Michigan with his family that year at the age of 5 years old. He attained dual citizenship in Canada and the United States and received a valid US Social Security Number. Tony served in the Armed Forces of the US honorably and has paid state and federal taxes to include social security from 1963 to the present in the United States of America. He is still paying those taxes at his current part time jobs.

At this writing, Mr. Rose has been given no indication by the US Government that his case is being examined by anyone who can take a responsible course of action, schedule a hearing or otherwise determine the bottom line in this matter. His lawyer, who is working pro bono, is totally frustrated and each of the agencies involved has stated the other should be responsible to do something.

Tony lives at the Hastings Minnesota State Veteran's Home and works locally at the 2nd Street Coffee Shop and the Animal Ark.

Happy Veteran's Day, Tony - Such as it is.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BECOMING MORE TRANPARANT ON WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE CASES

As recently announced by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) Congress and President Bush have mandated a federally maintained database on waste, fraud and abuse cases by government contractors. The purpose of the record is to inform government contracting officers, source selection boards and buyers regarding details on past performance of a negative nature in this area that can weigh in future contract awards.

http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/ca-081015-fcmd.html

Since the government database will not be visible to the public, POGO continues to publish this information from public records and has for many years as a non-profit organization. POGO has also pressed the government to assume responsibility for the information. That effort has now succeeded.

We applaud POGO's success.

http://www.pogo.org/p/x/aboutus.html

POGO has published its most recent records at its web site:

http://contractormisconduct.org/

The top 100 government contractor track records are shown as well as others. As POGO states in the analysis at its site, it should be noted that the most serious offenders continue to receive contracts from the very agencies that have prosecuted them for fraudulent activities.

POGO also points out that many of the top 100 contractors have no apparent instances of a negative nature or very few. It is possible to be a major player in the industry without resorting to waste, fraud and abuse.

The above table is POGO's latest data from public records on the top 100 federal government contractors. If you are interested in the details of these cases, go to the POGO site and click on the name of the company. A convenient summation of the government cases against the firm will appear.