Call it the logical extension of a continuing attack on illegal immigrants -- xenophobia gone mad.

Call it a waste of 50,000 tax dollars.

Colorado's most notorious Nativist, Rep. Tom Tancredo, has finally accomplished the impossible:

The congressman has driven thousands of constituents to a stand so biased even Tancredo can't endorse it.

The story begins with a survey Tancredo sent out recently. Mailed at taxpayer expense of roughly $25,000, the survey went to 65,000 constituents.

The survey, about Social Security, targeted likely voters over age 55, said Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa.

"This is a way to figure out how constituents feel," Espinosa explained. "This is a way to get them active."

Active against illegal immigrants, that is.

Tancredo asked:

"Do you believe the United States should allow people who worked in this country illegally to claim Social Security benefits?"

"Do you agree with President Bush that America should offer legal status to illegal workers now in the United States?"

"Do you agree that LEGAL workers from Mexico should be able to claim their Social Security credits earned while working in the U.S.?"

"Should individuals who used fake documents and borrowed or stolen Social Security numbers be allowed to collect Social Security benefits?"

"Do you believe the Social Security system's fiscal solvency is undermined by adding unknown millions of illegal workers to the pool of eligible workers?"

Thousands of angry constituents fired back: No. No. No. No. Yes.

John Parfrey of Evergreen wasn't among them.

The survey "was an absolute waste of tax dollars," said Parfrey, a 58-year-old retired financial planner who lives in Tancredo's district. "The questions seemed skewed."

The survey was so loaded with invective that those who answered it carried results to an ugly conclusion.

By a 2-to-1 ratio, Tancredo's constituents said legal workers from Mexico should not collect Social Security.

Denying Social Security to legal Mexicans who contribute to the fund is not just racist; it's criminal.

The response to the question threw Tancredo's staff.

"We were expecting it to go 98 percent to 2 percent the other way," Espinosa said. "Tom is not advocating that legal immigrants not get Social Security. He doesn't want to penalize people who do things the right way."

So Tancredo reached into the taxpayers' pockets for another 25 grand. He sent a second survey. The question on Social Security benefits for "LEGAL workers from Mexico ... was not clear," Tancredo wrote. "It did not state whether the benefits would be awarded immediately, or whether the worker must wait until he or she reaches the appropriate age before collecting benefits (as American workers are required to do)."

With the letter, Tancredo sent postcards that asked whether "LEGAL workers from Mexico ... should be required to wait until the U.S. retirement age to collect benefits" or whether they "should be able to collect benefits immediately, or under the Mexican retirement rules."

Results of this new survey are incomplete, Espinosa said.

Whatever the answers, it seems the congressman has once again botched the question.

Under normal circumstances, no law in the U.S. or Mexico allows the immediate collection of Social Security benefits. "Mexican retirement rules" set the normal old-age pension at 65. That's the same age as the U.S., Espinosa admitted.

"The card that went out with the second survey was supposed to clear up the question," the press secretary said. "It didn't. It made it worse."

No word yet on whether it will cost taxpayers another $25,000 to figure out why.

Copyright 2004, The Denver Post.

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