The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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April 22 is Earth Day, a great time to recommit to going green. More than one billion people will celebrate Earth Day this year. Saving energy, conserving water, and using less gas are just a few ways to go green (and save the earth). At Social Security, we strive to have a positive impact on the environment and community. By visiting www.socialsecurity.gov, you can handle much of your Social Security business quickly and securely from your home or office. Whether you want to get an estimate of...
Travel with me into an imaginary world of the future. Imagine if you will the Bizarro world of “Obamaball.” Come with me as we arrive at a fictional ball game in Fantasyland. We're in the top of the ninth inning and the score is tied. A relatively unknown batter strides to the plate. A hush descends over the field; the batter nervously adjusts his ill-fitting cap, smiles at the crowd and notices that the umpire is frantically trying to inform him that he's facing in the wrong direction. Und...
Question: I’m gathering everything I’ll need to file my taxes this month. Do I have to pay taxes on Social Security benefits? Also, where can I get a replacement 1099? Answer: Some people who get Social Security must pay federal income taxes on their benefits. Still, no one pays taxes on more than 85 percent of their Social Security benefits. You must pay taxes on some portion of your benefits if you file an individual federal tax return and your combined income exceeds $25,000. If you file a jo...
Over the years most of us have had to endure more than one windy speaker. Unfortunately, what most speakers don't realize was that a good speech doesn't have to be a long speech. Fifteen minutes should be the limit for an effective speech. Beyond that we get into boredom. A two minute speech can accomplish as much or more than a two-hour presentation. A case in point is the two-minute presentation given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Mr....
February is the month when we celebrate love and friendship. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has also declared February as American Heart Month to bring awareness to the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States: heart disease. We encourage you to wear red all month to promote cardiovascular disease prevention. Just as the heart is vital to our emotional and physical well-being, Social Security disability benefits are often a vital lifeline for people who are...
What should Santa Claus have brought us for Christmas this year? How about a healthy dose of Laissez-faire? And just what is Laisssez-faire, you may ask? One could say that it was one of the founding principles of our nation. Many residents of the colonies, as this country was commonly referred to back then, grew tired of bowing to the crown, and letting the King of England tell them how to live their lives. Some of the stalwarts of the idea had read the works of 18th Century Scottish...
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about his dream of an America where equality was more than a concept—where it was an everyday reality. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." His dream struck a chord with many people and inspired a nation. It shined a light on the ideal that every citizen should have equal opportunity to prosper and succeed. As we r...
Over the last nearly three and a half centuries, we learn from searching the Internet, that 10 significant events have taken place on Christmas day, beginning with the birth of Isaac Newton, the British scientist who first put his finger on just what gravity was. He was born on Christmas Day in 1642. The next significant Christmas Day event occurred 134 years later, when George Washington crossed the Delaware River in 1776. Nothing significant happened again on Christmas Day for another 142 year...
December 21 is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Since 1990, on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless brings attention to and seeks compassion for the homeless who have died because they didn’t have a warm, safe place to sleep. Even as the recovery works its way through the entire economy, no one is immune to potentially being homeless. People in our community—colleagues and family members, military veterans, and our f...
Alabama's senior legislators concluded their three-day session on October 22, in the old House of Representatives Chamber in the Alabama Capitol building. During their session they studied 58 resolutions submitted by the various members and selected 10 to submit to the Governor and the Legislature for their consideration and possible action. The ten resolutions that had a direct impact on the State's senior population, in order of popularity, were: Legislation to provide funding formobile...
November is Family Stories Month. Every family has stories—stories are a great way to carry on family legacies, pass lessons on to future generations, and share what is important to your family with the rest of the world. Your family stories may include ones about the birth of a child, serving in war, helping people in need, or the deaths of loved ones. We’d like to share some stories about what it means to receive disability benefits from Social Security. And we have a website that does just th...
Kids and kids at heart look forward to the end of October, when we use tricks and treats in equal measure to celebrate Halloween. No doubt, you’ll be passing out treats to costumed hobgoblins and hooligans in your neighborhood this Halloween night. But be careful that you’re not fooled by a different kind of trickster looking for a larger handout—such as your identity. October also is Crime Prevention Month and National Cyber Security Awareness Month. So it is the perfect time to remind you t...
When Alabama's senior legislature begins its three-day session on October 20, it will have the unique opportunity to convene in the old House of Representatives Chamber in the Alabama Capitol building. Normally the ASHL meets in the House Chamber located in the State Office Building, but that venue is temporarily closed. For some of the delegates this will be like a homecoming, since a good many of them had close relationships of a variety of sorts with this venue. For you humble scribe, it...
Speaking of the U.S. as being a “Nation of Laws,” is good, so long as these laws are designed for our benefit, and we know them and that we fully understand them; such is the case with the fledgling Elder Abuse Law. Barely two years old, the new piece of legislation concerns itself with the fact that there are in the neighborhood of 700,000 Alabamians age 65 and older, whose wellbeing is a major concern of the Alabama Department of Senior Services. Also, many of those covered exist on a lim...
Good coaching and a great playbook can make all the difference in the world for a winning football team. Fail to create a sound game plan, and you’re likely to miss opportunities and fall behind. The same is true for retirement—except you call the plays, including when to retire and how much to save. If you walk onto the retirement field without a game plan, you may have to work longer than you had hoped. You certainly don’t want to find yourself unable to have the comfortable retirement you e...
On the third Monday of most months a group of proud Americans meet at the Crump Center in Montgomery, stand and face our nation's banner and pledge their allegiance to a nation that many of them defended, but now can hardly recognize. “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,” they proudly proclaim, “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” And so begins the monthly AARP meeting. As youngsters they re...
Women’s Equality Day is August 26, and this is the perfect time to remind you how much Social Security values and appreciates women. Even though men and women with identical earnings histories receive the same benefits, there are things women in particular should know about Social Security. There are trends and differences in lifestyle and patterns of earnings that can affect benefits. For example, some women may be caregivers for many people: spouses, children, and parents. Taking time away f...
As vast as the American English language is, we hardly need to supplement it with made up words, especially proper nouns that we have metamorphed into verbs. A typical example of this is a noun that we use and hear used as a verb almost every day: Xerox. Someone is always xeroxing something on the local copy machine. But if one were to stand on propriety, even the folks at Xerox couldn’t xerox anything, any more than the people at Canon could canon a copy, or the people at Hewlett Packard w...
In the United States, people do a lot to recognize and honor the heroes who serve in the Armed Forces and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. July is an appropriate month to recognize veterans and wounded warriors, as we celebrate our nation’s independence. On July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure to award the U.S. Medal of Honor “to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like...
If you’re crazy about juggling, there’s a holiday just for you: Juggling Day on June 17. The International Juggling Association created this holiday in 1947, earmarking a day for everyone from juggling junkies to inexperienced novices to try their hand at juggling. These days, with busy schedules and constant multi-tasking, it seems the most common kind of juggling for people is managing the multiple chores and obligations of everyday life. That’s why Social Security created a suite of online se...
This year's session of the Alabama Silver-Haired Legislature will be significant to your corespondent, and some others, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we will meet in the old House Chamber of the Alabama State Capitol building from October 20 through 23. It served as the State's fifth capitol, having been so designated in 1846; and was also the first capitol of the Confederacy for a short time, and it was at its steps that the historic Selma to Montgomery March...
On Memorial Day, as we pay tribute to the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, we also share some news about Social Security disability benefits for veterans with disabilities: a new expedited disability process. We believe it is important to recognize those who currently serve in the military as well as those injured in the line of duty and consider it an honor and a duty to serve them. Whether the injury is physical or mental, getting a decision about Social Security...
Reducing the number of elder abuse cases in the River Region area, and declaring war on abusers will be a major focus on May 9, of the yet-to-be-named Montgomery area elder abuse prevention council when it meets at Cara Vita Independent Living Community. At this time Daryl Bailey, Montgomery County's new District Attorney, will talk to the group and discuss his plans to create a local elder justice task force. So, look out wrongdoers, the old folks are on the war path; sentiments that should...
Americans are fortunate to have perhaps the richest language in existence. In many languages there's one way to articulate something, and that's it. The number of pseudonyms, homonyms, figures of speech, or whatever, are limited. There's one way to describe something, and that's it. In English, especially American English, there are a host of ways to say or describe something, which gives us the luxury of being extremely specific in our word usage. Yet we frequently assume that a word has only...
If you’ve recently begun receiving Social Security benefits or plan to apply in the near future, you may be wondering this tax season: are Social Security benefits taxable? The short answer is: sometimes. Some people have to pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits. This usually happens only if you have other substantial income (such as wages, self-employment, interest, dividends and other taxable income that must be reported on your tax return) in addition to your Social S...
