Social Security email doesn’t add up

I am perplexed at an email that is heavily circulating the Internet right now. It has to do with possible changes to the social security system in our country. Usually when I get a mass email like this I delete it immediately regardless of how many people I am supposed to forward it on to or what is going to happen to me if I don't.

But this particular email perplexes me from a purely mathematical standpoint. Before I go into detail, let's take a look at the actual email:

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SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES

It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?

As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens access to Social Security benefits. Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service.

Instructions are below. If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names.

If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to everyone you know.

Thank you!

To add your name, highlight entire email and right click 'copy', then click on 'forward'. Right click and 'paste' onto the new email. Address it to all of your email correspondents, add your name to the list and send it on.

When the petition hits 1,000, send it to

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Now, let me create a hypothetical example of this email's travels through the Internet:

Mr. C receives the email and notices that Mr. A and Mr. B are already on the list. So Mr. C adds his name to the end of the list such that the new list looks like this:

1. Mr. A
2. Mr. B
3. Mr. C

Now Mr. C sends it on to his friends Mr. D, Mr. E and Mr. F, who each add their own name to their respective list. Now there are 3 new lists that look like this:

1. Mr. A
2. Mr. B
3. Mr. C
4. Mr. D

1. Mr. A
2. Mr. B
3. Mr. C
4. Mr. E

1. Mr. A
2. Mr. B
3. Mr. C
4. Mr. F

Even though 3 separate emails have now been spawned, each of them has the same first three names on the list. And my example is only using numbers 1 through 4. If person #999 sends his email on to 25 friends and those 25 friends all add their name as #1000 and then forward the entire list to , won't all 25 lists have the same 1-999 people on the list?

Am I missing something here? Or are we truly expected to believe that someone at the White House is going to review all of these emails, put them in one master list and then remove all of the duplicates?

Calling all math majors. Help me out here.