An article over at Nebraska's StatePaper.com entitled "Identity Theft" Card Was Dealt From The Bottom Of The Deck claims that the media was duped by the government on the claim of identity fraud in the Swift & Company raids last week. The general theme is that the government was pushing the buttons of the media so that people thought these were the "bad" identity thieves who run up your credit card. As if there is any "not bad" identity theft.
Say “identity theft” and most of us think of some rotten sumbitch using our credit cards to buy stuff – usually luxuries – that we ourselves couldn’t afford. You’ve seen the commercials and heard the real-life horror stories. The words “identity theft” conjure a vision of some innocent poor soul being tormented for years while trying to straighten out the mess.
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They weren’t lying. They were doing what advertisers and other hucksters do, every day. They pushed a “hot button” and it worked.
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The public was left open to the impression that the feds weren’t just rounding up illegal workers – they were rounding up really bad illegal workers involved in “identity theft.” The government left the rest to the public imagination....
Lots of people no doubt said, or thought: “Listen, I understand people coming here illegally to get their kids enough to eat. Make a better life. That type of thing. Besides, the meatpackers hire them. Right? But when they get into identity theft, that’s where I draw the line. We can’t have it.”
That’s what Uncle Sam’s public relations crew wanted us to think. To the extent that it happened in this corner and was slow to be recognized: You have the editor’s red-faced expression of regret.
I'm not sure who the author of this article is as there is no byline. They're probably too embarrassed at their ridiculous short sightedness and understanding of the issue. It really seems like it was written by an ill informed blogger to tell you the truth.
The intent seems to be that nobody was hurt by this identity theft by the illegal aliens.
As a matter of fact one of the first comments on the story was some guy saying that he hopes some illegal aliens steal his Social Security Number so they can pay into his Social Security account and he'll get the money when he retires. This seems to be a common missperception by a bunch of people because I've seen the argument before. It only takes about 2 braincells to figure out though that the money you pay into Social Security on your pay stub, well you have to pay taxes on the income you made under that Social Security Number for the year...
So, I put on my "nice cap" and commented. I don't know if they'll approve it or not, but here it is in all its glory.
"Some critics complained that there was something inappropriate about raids that occur near Christmas"
Say Merry Christmas to those citizens whose identities were used this year and will be visited by the IRS asking for the taxes due come the new year.
I also heard a lot of complaining that it was taking away parents from their children. Answer me this, what would happen if a US citizen committed identity fraud and they were arrested and they had children at home?
They'd be TAKEN AWAY FROM THEIR CHILDREN. If they were the only parent their children would go to relatives or into the custody of the state.
We are doing nothing to these illegal alien criminals that we wouldn't do to our own citizen criminals. So stop your whining about how unfair we are being as a nation.
Why are we expected to give these people some sort of special treatment that we wouldn't even give to citizens or legal residents just because they are illegal aliens who managed to sneak in to our country? It makes me sick.
For those of you who have found something wrong with these busts take a deep breath and think about the above for a second. You know it's the truth.
