Sorted by date Results 76 - 83 of 83
“Even slight Trump erosions and/or Biden inroads with seniors will make the difference in the election.”- Salena Zito, CNN political analyst, in PJ Media “This year, retaining the support of seniors is obviously central to Trump’s reelection chances. But a number of polls released [the last week of June] show that he has slipped badly in this key demographic.” - John Cassidy, The New Yorker What is the source of the new-found senior power? Some of it can be attributed to the historic appreciation seniors have of the vote. Traditionally about 70...
Prisons in the United States contain an ever growing number of aging men and women who cannot readily climb stairs, haul themselves to the top bunk, or walk long distances to meals or the pill line; whose old bones suffer from thin mattresses and winter’s cold; who need wheelchairs, walkers, canes, portable oxygen, and hearing aids; who cannot get dressed, go to the bathroom, or bathe without help; and who are incontinent, forgetful, suffering chronic illnesses, extremely ill, and dying. [Human Rights Watch, Old Behind Bars, 2012] Elderly i...
Yes, it’s true. In the late 1960s I illegally smoked (and inhaled!) marijuana at “pot parties.” Sometimes my drug-induced paranoia escalated wildly and I knew I was going to spend my squandered youth in prison. Happily, toward the end of that period of my life I ended up with a college degree rather than a prison sentence. Now marijuana is legal in Alaska and many other states, although the legal situation remains a bit muddy at the federal level. However, the new ease of access to marijuana has special significance for older persons in Alask...
Imagine you are driving down an empty two-lane highway somewhere in Alaska. It is cold and very windy. You see something ahead. It is a car nosed over into the ditch, flashers on. A person in obvious distress is standing beside the car waving you down. Do you stop to help? You do because this is the unwritten code of the Alaskan traveler. We stop to help people who need assistance. This sentiment is so strong among Alaskan residents that it is enshrined in the State Constitution as a fundamental duty of our elected representatives. Section 4...
It was a tsunami of trinkets, baubles and tchotchkes. Dozens of vendor tables were cheek by jowl along three walls of the cavernous Discovery Ballroom in Anchorage's Hotel Captain Cook. Freebies included water bottles, lip balm, pens, coffee mugs, pamphlets, refrigerator magnets and round flexible things about the size of a large pancake used to open difficult jars. A friend of mine calls them "rubber husbands." This was the annual meeting of the Alaska Public Health Association (ALPHA), Jan....
Will Social Security be in your future? The short answer is “yes.” The other short answer is “maybe.” Let’s start at the beginning. Who cares if Social Security has a future? About 61 million people, or more than one in every six U.S. residents, currently collect Social Security benefits. They care. About 40 percent of Americans age 65 and older would have incomes below the poverty line without Social Security benefits. With Social Security benefits, 9 percent do. They certainly care. The median retirement account balance is $2,500 for all w...
FICA. Grrrrrr! Every time we get a paycheck most of us see the deduction for Social Security taken out of our earnings. It seems relentless and unfair, and to what end? It may be reasonable to think that because the one highly visible aspect of Social Security is the periodic deduction from the paycheck. But there is another story. Social Security pays benefits to nearly 92,000 Alaskans. That’s about 1 of every 8 residents in the state. These are not just a random selection of Alaskans. These are often Alaskans who would be in desperate f...
In 1935 the National Association of Manufacturers testified before Congress that Social Security would represent “ultimate socialist control of life and industry.” Other opponents argued that the initial Social Security registration process was like social engineering used in Nazi Germany. These critics predicted that American workers would be forced to wear metal Social Security tags on chains around their necks. Earlier in the decade industrial production had fallen 46 percent, foreign trade had plummeted by 70 percent, and unemployment had...
