Hopefully, this is big enough to get picked up by the papers. Anyone have Eric Krol's email address?

Is it worth pointing out how disingenous it is for the mailer to say that Duckworth supports giving Social Security to illegal aliens when, under the Senate plan this mailer derides, the recipients would first have to become FULLY LEGAL CITIZENS before receiving Social Security benefits?

I have a strong, but vague, recollection, that a GOP House candidate got reprimanded for this in another recent House election. Anyone else remember?

The disclaimer for a solicitation disguised as an invoice is pretty clear:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/invoices.htm

Solicitation Disguised as Invoices

Don't be victimized by con artists who try to get your company to order goods or services by mailing you solicitations designed to look like invoices. The unscrupulous individuals who mail these know that some unsuspecting managers and employees will be fooled by their appearance and will automatically remit payment, thinking the company had placed an order.

Title 39, United States Code, Section 3001, makes it illegal to mail a solicitation in the form of an invoice, bill, or statement of account due unless it conspicuously bears a notice on its face that it is, in fact, merely a solicitation. This disclaimer must be in very large (at least 30-point) type and must be in boldface capital letters in a color that contrasts prominently with the background against which it appears.

The disclaimer must not be modified, qualified, or explained, such as with the phrase "Legal notice required by law." It must be the one prescribed in the statute, or alternatively, the following notice prescribed by the U.S. Postal Service: THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.

A solicitation whose appearance does not conform to the requirements of Title 39, United States Code, Section 3001, constitutes prima facie evidence of violation of the federal False Representation Statute (Title 39, United States Code, Section 3005). Therefore, solicitations in the form of invoices, bills, or statements of account due which do not contain the large and conspicuous disclaimer required by the law will not be carried or delivered by mail if they come to the attention of the Postal Service, and will be disposed of as the Postal Service shall direct.

The Repubs don't care whether they get their wrists slapped over the envelope - the mail will already have been delivered and the mission accomplished (gullible electorate misled.)

That's true, but if they are illegal, the Post Office is supposed to throw them away, so the GOP would have to give up this totally misleading campaign tactic in the future.

I think this would be a precedent -- it seems pretty parallel:

Court Burns United Seniors Association for Misleading Senior Citizens

The mailings considered by the court were designed to appear as urgent letters from the Social Security Administration. They were not unlike many other disguised mailings received by senior citizens that appear to be from the government.

In a unanimous decision, yesterday, the three judges upheld a $554,196 fine against United Seniors Association Inc.

The case specifically involved the envelope used by the group in mailings to seniors. The court said the group's envelope violated the Social Security Act that prohibits the use of “symbols, emblems, or names in reference to Social Security in hopes of preventing confusion by Social Security recipients.”

The case involved two envelopes used by USA in mailing solicitation messages to senior citizens. On the first one, the words "Social Security" are printed boldly at the top. Around the boarder of the envelope, the message "Social Security Alert" is repeated over and over. Also on the envelope was the message “Urgent Alert,” with a large red check make beside it.

The second envelope boldly stated "Social Security Information Enclosed." It carried a message, too, that it should be opened “immediately.”

The court disagreed with the USA defense that claimed the law prohibiting deceptive communications using the name of Social Security did not apply to envelopes. USA claimed the contents must also be considered. The court said, however, that "once a recipient of a misleading envelope opens the envelope and begins reading its contents, the deceptive `communication' has served its purpose."

The Social Security Act also prohibits the use of the following in advertising, solicitation and other communications to give the false impression that the communications is “approved, endorsed or authorized by the Social Security Administration.” –

"Social Security", "Social Security Account", "Social Security System", "Social Security Administration", "Medicare", "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services", "Department of Health and Human Services", "Health and Human Services", "Supplemental Security Income Program", "Medicaid", "Death Benefits Update", "Federal Benefit Information", "Funeral Expenses", or "Final Supplemental Plan", the letters "SSA", "CMS", "DHHS", or "SSI", or any other combination or variation of such words or letters.

click here for the legal opinion

Bottom line, here's the question to ask:

Is the mailer one that "constitutes a solicitation...for information or the contribution of funds or membership fees"?

It does include the NRSC website, which obviously solicits funds and information.

If the GOP is in violation of prohibitions against abusing Social Security related terms and facsimiles, such as the card or the envelope, it could get pretty costly for them, as each mailing could be deemed an individual offense, each of which may carry a $5000 fine, per Section 1140 of the Social Security Act:

PROHIBITION OF MISUSE OF SYMBOLS, EMBLEMS, OR NAMES IN REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY OR MEDICARE

SEC. 1140. [42 U.S.C. 1320b-10] (a)(1) No person may use, in connection with any item constituting an advertisement, solicitation, circular, book, pamphlet, or other communication, or a play, motion picture, broadcast, telecast, or other production, alone or with other words, letters, symbols, or emblems—

(A) the words “Social Security”, “Social Security Account”, “Social Security System”, “Social Security Administration”, “Medicare”, “Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services”, “Department of Health and Human Services”, “Health and Human Services”, “Supplemental Security Income Program”, or “Medicaid”, the letters “SSA”, “CMS” , “DHHS”, “HHS”, or “SSI”, or any other combination or variation of such words or letters, or
(B) a symbol or emblem of the Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or Department of Health and Human Services (including the design of, or a reasonable facsimile of the design of, the social security card issued pursuant to section 205(c)(2)(F), or the Medicare card the check used for payment of benefits under title II, or envelopes or other stationery used by the Social Security Administration,.....
(b) The Commissioner or the Secretary (as applicable) may, pursuant to regulations, impose a civil money penalty not to exceed—

(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), $5,000, or
(2) in the case of a violation consisting of a broadcast or telecast, $25,000,
against any person for each violation by such person of subsection (a). In the case of any items referred to in subsection (a)(1) consisting of pieces of mail, each such piece of mail which contains one or more words, letters, symbols, or emblems in violation of subsection (a) shall represent a separate violation. In the case of any item referred to in subsection (a)(2), the reproduction, reprinting, or distribution of such item shall be treated as a separate violation with respect to each copy thereof so reproduced, reprinted, or distributed.

Very common GOP trick. Frist and Dole both send out "surveys" (that second as fundraisers) in official looking envelopes and the letter and survey look "similar" to tax forms/documents. Here is a link to a story I did back in March on DailyKos about the NRSC mailer with my scans linked on the post. No
option is given to return the survey without sending money.

The language was very demanding and could easily intimidate. This piece was picked up by Americablog and DemocraticUnderground where a lot of folks seemed to be familiar with these tactics and one person even provided a link to the marketing firm that puts these mailers together. I no longer have the link.

The Charlotte Observer asked the Dole camp about it, but they brushed it off by saying the form doesn't say it's from the IRS or some drivel like that.

"[NRCC spokesman Carl Forti] added: 'If the post office had a problem with it, they wouldn’t have delivered it.'"

Like everything else from the republicans in the last 6 years, this is false. The Postmaster General does not see individual pieces of mail unless there's a complaint or investigation underway. First the mail is physically collected by a carrier, who takes it back to the post office and dumps it in a hopper. Then the mail is automatically sorted and routed to its destination without human intervention until it ends up on the route assigned to its individual addressee, at which point the carrier for that route sorts it along with all the mail for the rest of the addresses on that route, then delivers the mail.

Mail carriers, needless to say, sort mail as fast as possible and look only at three things, in this order: 1. The last name and/or street number (for proper sorting by address); 2. The stamp to determine whether this is first-class or junk mail (if step 1 fails--if the name doesn't match the address--junk mail is supposed to be tossed at the post office. If the automated system screwed up and the address isn't on that carrier's route, the piece of mail goes in a tub and is re-routed through the system. If the name is wrong but it's first-class, the carrier is supposed to forward the mail to a known forward address or deliver it as addressed if the other options fail); 3. The front of the envelope if this is junk mail to determine whether there are one of 3-4 very specific endorsements on it (junk mailers can pay more to have their crap delivered to "current occupant," in which case it's delivered as addressed even if the name is wrong. There are also other specific endorsements they can pay for, such as "Forwarding Requested").

Mail carriers are not familiar with every postal regulation, nor should they be expected to be until they pull a salary and good benefits from the start.

Well, send them to the U.S. Post Office Inspector General as well. Those definitely sound like they fail under the Post Office's legal test, as they are most definitely solicitations posing as official government mailings.

Excellent point. Apparently Republicans are against new citizens collecting Social Security benefits.

Also missing from the argument: Many illegals have already paid into the system, through the use of duplicate or fake SS cards. They will never collect on that money however, which is helping prop up the system.

It is indirectly solicating votes which I think we can all agree have value.

Just as a guess, yournotworthit, and from your comments in the month since you've been a member, the grasping at straws would seem to be on your part, not ours. And that is helpful.

"...it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship." GWB, 6/29/06