Uncle Sam: What Happens When A Relative Borrows Money

It has been said many times that you should not lend money to family members unless you get it in writing. Collecting later could be tough because you do not want to cause trouble in the home.

Well, our good ol' Uncle Sam is no different.

Here we seniors thought we were getting straight goods. So when our congressmen told us that, because of the huge national debt, drastic measures were necessary...like cutting our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits...we listened in disbelief!

Seniors are team players so we thought we were all pulling together...so everyone would feel the pain. Well the miserable sons of guns have been trying to make a case for cutting back "entitlements". "Entitlements" implies that seniors are standing with hands out for doles just because they are older and feel somehow "entitled" just by being retired.

Now People, don't get your shorts in a twist, I know that seniors and disabled have been paying into the system for years, and this is a benefit policy that pays out for eligible persons so they can have some security in the retirement years.

What no one has been willing to 'fess up to is that Congress, Our Government, has been borrowing out of the Social Security Trust Fund and it is now only a paper entry that shows what monies are supposed to really be there. Don't think for a minute that there is a gold depository of trillions of dollars that we are using to send out those monthly Social Security checks.

Reality is, according to my take on the subject, that there are monies presumed to be flowing through the books which enable Social Security Checks to be written and therefore cashed in the system. Social Security automatic deposits serve to make this a real time event but the money still has to come in from somewhere because there is no pot of gold to write checks against.

Now the National Debt figures in because Uncle Sam owes us.

This controversial "national debt", dontcha know, can be summarized by listing each country we owe money to and then adding numbers up to see just who is holding our national mortgage.

The biggest mortgage holder is not China (only 1.6 trillion or 8percent), not Japan (a mere 912.4 billion for 6.4 percent), not the United Kingdom (346.5 billion for 2.4 percent), not Hong Cong (121.9 billion for .9 percent) or even U.S. State and Municipal governments with 506.16 (3.5 percent)....not commercial banks (301.8 (2.1 percent), private pension funds 504.7 (3.5 percent) or even the United States Treasury (1.63 trillion)...nope, THE LARGEST MORTGAGE HOLDER IS THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND AT 2.67 TRILLION DOLLARS (19 PERCENT).

The United States Government has sucked out almost all of the Social Security Trust Fund. The Social Security Trust Fund has been lending its money to the Federal Government for decades, and now holds paper that accounts for almost Twenty Percent of the National Debt.

The Social Security Trust Fund is owed 2.67 TRILLION DOLLARS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

Congress has finagaled for decades with monies paid in by retirees who now are eligible for benefits. So now they have THE UNMITIGATED GALL to ask us to let them cut back our benefits so they won't have to pay back the whole thing.

That is like having Uncle Sam at the supper table, nodding at his sad stories of hardship while knowing full well he has been drunk on power and addicted to ready cash...whoops...our ready cash. Now he spins his tale of "woe is me" and wants us to "restructure" his obligation or better yet, "forgive" his obligation by lengthening years needed to work before qualifying for pensions, making payouts smaller for new retirees, (even if they have paid in the longest since the system was set up) or worse yet...telling everyone to take a payout and just go away.

Why should we let them get away with this? Write to your congressman, no heck, call or email or camp on his doorstep. There were rallies today at Republican Chris Smith's headquarters and not surprising, he was safe in Washington. However the rally at Rush Holt's office did have him communicating with constituents by video and conferencing.

This is a pivotal time for us. If those bozos in Washington do not take responsible action to honor today's obligations, we are going to lose more than our reputation in the arena of World Opinion. We are going to lose percentage points on our national debt interest obligations and Congress is going to use Seniors and the Disabled to mop the cobbles of this floor of shame.

I don't care if Uncle Sam is a relative.

I don't care if he is figurative.

There is much more going on here than bickering about increasing the debt ceiling. We are talking about a demented uncle taking a baseball bat to the family members who have lent him money. He is not being nice at all.

I do care about the way we are being treated. Uncle Sam must be challenged.

There are 52 million retired persons in this country according to AARP.

We must mobilize and make our concerns felt in every corner, of every room, of every house.

This is not just about seniors or the disabled.

This is about ethics and integrity, of honoring one's obligations, which right now seems to be in short supply in Washington, D.C.

Seniors Rock!

Senior Art Show Drop Off Monday

How time flies. Tomorrow is July 25 and the drop off date for all artists who have registered for this year's Mercer County Senior Art Show.

So bundle your work for travel and head to Meadow Lakes in Hightstown. You can drop off your art or craft entry as early as nine a.m. If you are not an early riser, the Art Committee will accept entries up to two p.m.

If you have not been to Meadow Lakes before, follow these easy directions: From the Trenton metropolitan area, take Rt.33 east past Staples, beyond Shoprite, past Roma Bank to 130 north. Go about four plus miles further until you see the exit for Rt. 33 east, and then bear to the right. That will take you past Walmart and a lot of tempting shopping centers, but save that for later.

Halfway down the hill, make a right at the Diner which will take you to the Peddie School. At the stop sign pause, then make a right up the shady street. (I know you appreciate these little touches) and following along the school's campus, make a left heading east. Stay on that road for a short distance and Meadow Lakes' gorgeous gateposts will be on your right.

Now for those of you who will have the hubby driving, here is the official version of "Directions to Meadow Lakes":

From Rt. 1: Take Rt. 571 East into Hightstown. Turn right at the light onto Rt.33. At the Hightstown Diner, turn left onto West Ward Street (please note that I think they mean right because left would head you back to the Rt. 130 part of town)Then turn right onto Rt. 539. (This is up a little hill.) Just past Peddie School, turn left onto Rt. 571 East. Meadow Lakes is 1/4 mile on the right.

Proceed to the third entrance which is marked "Main Entrance, Meadow Lakes".

From Rt. 130: Turn onto Rt 571 East and follow directions above.

From I-195: Take Rt. 539 exit towards East Windsor. Pass over the NJ Turnpike. Go past the Peddie School golf course. Take the second right, Route 571, to Etra Road. Meadow Lakes is 1/4 mile on the right.

They say men like to use route numbers and mileage estimates but women like to go by landmarks. LOL. At any rate, it is a lovely drive and the Committee Memebers from the Mercer County Division of Culture and Heritage and the Mercer County Office on Aging will be happy to see you and your entries before two p.m.

Thank heavens the weather is going to be cooler. Trust me, you will beat the forecast for showers if you can make it by midday.

Well, good luck and have a successful show!

Art rocks!

Seniors Art Show Deadline Wednesday!

This is a reminder to all of you who intend to show in this year's Mercer County Senior Art Show.

The mail in registration deadline is this Wednesday! Your registration must be received by the Mercer County Office of Aging so they can estimate for exhibit space and volume of visitors.

Please note on your registration form that the artwork dimension requirements and limitations are listed. This is important in order for the show committee to plan for the actual hanging of work.

Last year's show had a good number of stained glass entries. They were hung in long windows and glowed beautifully as the sunbeams shone through. Great care was taken to exhibit them safely and to great advantage.

The number and variety of crafts and ceramics may indicate a trend for senior artisans. The results, from these seniors expressing themselves in a tactile way, were unique, nostalgic, and sometimes thought provoking. The range of ceramics last year was truly impressive and showed a lot of expertise.

One wonders if an artist picked up this ability as a senior hobbyist or is a retired professional craft person. The art work was quite surprising and very beautiful.

The water color painting exhibits covered an entire wall at Meadow Lakes. This is a good medium for both beginners and experts and, depending on your level, is either fun or the artist's most difficult and challenging medium.

I seem to remember the acrylic painting division, based on the number of entries, as one of the most popular. Being able to work quickly and clean up with soap and water has helped to make it a good choice for seniors just starting out with painting techniques.

The oil painting division was well represented but with fewer than the acrylic division. Oils take so much time to dry that it seems traditional artists are leaning to acrylic as a medium. This is truly a shame because oils have a translucent quality and permanence that have made them the choice for artists for hundreds of years. Kudos to those die-hards who labor in this difficult medium with such inspiring results.

Now that digital photography is almost fool proof, one would think that the medium would have a common feel to it. Not so. The photography entries from last year were challenging, well composed, beautifully presented and dreadfully competitive. The judge for that category must have had a hard time picking a winner.

A note for visitors this year: If a painting has a price label on it, this could be the perfect opportunity to get a bargain from a Mercer County artist who just might be the next Grandma Moses!

There are many videos and workshops that get senior artists started and this is a great venue for them to show their progress. This is an opportunity for visitors to pick up an original work of art for the home.

Now it is time for the artist entry form to be mailed in. Think up a super clever title, ("untitled" just does not give a judge a clue), check your size measurements, and please make sure it is framed and ready to hang.

And just one more thing: Your painting may be worth a million bucks but, if you put a price on it over $400, you will have to cover it with private insurance.

So mail in your form today. And circle the drop off date, July 25, (9am to 2pm)for the delivery of your work. Keep your Part 2 label for your records.

If you need more registration forms call the Mercer County Office on Aging at (609)989-6661. You will speak to a real person. Promise.

Good luck and hope to see you at the show reception August 5 at 3:30pm.

Seniors rock!

Finally Mack-McBride Yoked Together

I am reading the current controversy about Kathy McBride's confrontation with the Trenton Mayoral Recall Petitioners with some consternation. For someone in the public eye, her behavior is unprofessional and a bit over the top.

She protests that Governor Christie pulled the rug out from the city and thinks the Mayor had nothing to do with it.

I think she is a bit tunnel visioned. I have observed two things about Mayor Mack's efforts to wring funds out of the Governor. Last November, when the transitional monies were promised from the State, there were conditions to the proposed arrangement and that the Department of Community Affairs was to approve new hires for the city. My second observation was that Mayor Mack did not live up to that agreement.

So what's a Gov to do? Maybe tweak the carpet a scooch?

Now flash forward to this weekend's events.

Front page of the Trentonian took colorful note of the "F" word used by Mack supporters who tangled with recall petitioners and press persons. The resulting display has not served Mayor Mack well. Then current Council President McBride drives around the corner to check out the recall petitioners' progress and predictably runs into fireworks.

We know there is empathy between Mayor Mack and Kathy McBride because he promptly hired a member of her family after his election. It is almost a "family" kind of thing.

If you were planning a vacation would you want to bring your kids here,when even a little league game was rubbed out by fear and the perception of Trenton as a place of violence? Of course not. And this city needs tourism dollars.

I would like to point out that when Pellettieri Homes hosted "Meet and Greet the Candidates" prior to the Mayoral and Council elections, Kathy McBride was the only person invited that did not respond or attend. We did not invite all the ward candidates but calls and emails were sent to at-large candidates and persons we wanted to hear from. I used the contact information we had at the Trentonian for emails and phone numbers and attempted vigorously to get a response.

She was the only candidate who did not get back to me. Not even for a "too busy" kind of courtesy. That speaks of bad manners or worse.

Even Divine Allah attended our sessions. He turned out to be charismatic, well spoken, knowlegeable and a good representative of prevailing attitudes in his area. Marge Caldwell-Wilson won the seat but it was an objective opportunity to hear from his point of view in a non-judgemental forum.

Each candidate was given a half hour to discuss anything. And it worked. Too bad that Ms. McBride snubbed the opportunity. Maybe it was because she would be sitting down with a mixed audience and would not be able to hoorah her bias.

Council President George Muschal was sincere and vigorous in his concern for this city. I still cannot get over the fact that someone could object to George plowing out a city resident because he did not live in George's South Ward. Snow fell all over the city if memory serves me correctly...

When a farmer yokes two calves together, it should be done early in their training. Then they eat and sleep together until eventually they move only as one. With Mack and McBride now running the affairs of Trenton, let us hope that they learn to move together and forward. For better or for worse, come hell or high water (and with Governor Christie in the mix, both could happen) they are plowing our "south forty" for another year.

I forgot to mention, sometimes those two calves will never move on.... and then they become veal.

Trenton rocks.

Fallout From Failed Budget

Governor Christie walloped seniors and the disabled over the head last Thursday when he penciled out several items in New Jersey's budget for the upcoming fiscal year, including Medicaid funding.

In one respect, the State kept going. But items that lobbyists and legislators had thought were safely berthed in this vessel of funding for 2012 were clobbered as though with a rogue wave.

That rogue wave would be Governor Christie. Ocean currents are charted and fairly predictable, but every once in a while a ship reports an enormous over-the-bridge specimen that swamps a ship. It remains to be seen if New Jersey is going to sink under this latest wave, but our ship of State is listing.

The transitional aid cuts to cities hits Trenton hard. Last November, Mayor Mack came back with almost $30 million in his package and it was written into the budget. However it came with strings attached and the Mayor has not kept those strings tied in a bow. Hence, no aid in the State budget for Trenton.

Examining the Medicaid issue is also not what it seems to be at first blush. The Governor is pushing for managed care for Medicaid clients. This is a mixed bag.

Insurance companies are quietly buying up doctors groups. This means that doctors will be working for insurance companies. You thought that "panels of death" were something that hung over your head if the Federal Government had everyone on Medicare?

Well, hang on. Here is how managed care works:

I had a rupture in my knee. The managed care doctor was given points if he could keep his patients visits to a bare minimum and at a low tier of service. If memory serves me, the company provider was Cigna.

Well, Cigna did not approve orthoscopic surgery so I was prescribed a brace and sent back to work. I was forced to wear it, hobbling with obviously deteriorating effects, until it got so bad that there was no option but surgery. Next?

The pounding on the damaged limb shattered my ankle (previously broken and healed a decade earlier) which now required surgery on the ankle as well as the knee. But wait...here's the best part....the surgeons wanted to do the surgeries at the same time, same time same day same anesthesiogist...but Cigna said "no".

Yep. Cigna said "no way" and it had to be done as though it was a different injury. The upshot was that we went through the knee surgery, recuperation, rehabilitation, and it was only after the rehab "plateaued", because the ankle injury prevented the full course of recovery and treatment, was the second surgery approved.

Now does that sound like it saves money?

The doctor, who was my primary at the time, was furious with me and told me to get lost! He had been hauled on the carpet by the insurance company, that he lost "bonus points" because I had needed treatment, and he wanted me off his books.

From one point of view, the doctors group will cost less because they will have dramatically reduced their malpractice insurance overhead. They will become part of the process and therefore should be able to concentrate on patient care instead of business matters.

The hospitals will cut down on insurance processing costs because they will have a lower volume of providers to deal with.

But what will patients get? They will have to find new doctors in many cases. However, many seniors are currently going nuts trying to find transportation to get to sites for all the tests their doctors insist on, many times over-testing just to cover themselves for malpractice reasons.

Warning: It seems to me that there is financial incentive to undertreat these needy Medicaid patients. This is the dark side of the Governor's agenda.

Also, in this depressed economy, and with the requirements by the Affordable Medical Care Act that everyone be insured, the income parameters for new New Jersey Medicaid applications seem absurd. I find it hard to believe that making over $130 per week means you have too much income for Medicaid.

My grandparents used to tell me that "money was not important if we had our health".
I do think the State has a responsibility here.

Well, Gov? I am open to developments.

And about the nursing home issues and cuts...that's for next time.

Seniors Rock.

Mercer County Senior Art Show

The Mercer County Office of Aging is so active in our area that we sometimes take their efforts for granted. Their programs range from Jersey Fresh farm vouchers to the senior nutrition programs, meals on wheels, and so many others it would take my whole blog to list them all. But my absolute most favorite is the annual senior art contest.

Here are some quick notes.

New Jersey's 21 counties hold individual art shows and each reflects their regional personalities and regulations. Some even charge for entries but permit more than one piece of art per artist. The county winners go to the New Jersey Senior Art Show in September. This program is a wonderful expression and acknowlegement of our seniors and their abilities.

This year the Mercer County version of the competition is held at Meadow Lakes in East Windsor. This beautiful venue has generous display area and their hospitality makes the entire show a real treat.

Notes for this year's competition:

Please pre-register your art and mail your entry form to the Mercer County Office on Aging, 640 South Broad Street, PO Box 8068, Trenton, NJ 08611. If you need a form, please call 609-989-6661 and they will get one out immediately so you do not miss the July 20 deadline for entries. This is to give the Office of Aging and Mercer Division of Cultural and Heritage personnel an idea of the number of persons in the show and how their work will be hung and displayed.

Bring your art work, (one per senior citizen over 60), to 300 Meadow Lakes, East Windsor on July 25 from 9:00am to 2:00pm. The reception will be held on August 5 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. All works not going on to the State Show must be retrieved after the reception at 3:30 pm.

This year the competition is split into professional and non-professional categories. A professional is someone who has sold artwork through commercial channels, exhibited in a professional gallery, or holds or has held a professional membership in a guild or organization. Everyone else is considered non-professional.

All works must be original,not previously entered in the county show and must be completed within the past three years. Digging under your bed for old watercolors does not meet the rules...heck that was when you were not as experienced anyway...right? The feeling is that this work truly must represent our seniors and their ablities as they are today.

Categories are:

Acrylic, Craft (no kits or molds) and does include stained glass, Computer generated imagery using a graphics program such as Photoshop and Illustrator,etc. but no scanned images, Drawing with ink or pencil and markers,Mixed Media which combines two or more media, oil painting, Pastel and charcoal,etc.,Photography using a film based, digital or pinhole camera in either black and white or color, Prints such as etching and engraving ranging to silkscreen, Watercolor and gouache... whew!

Oh, one more thing, your paintings 2-D work must meet dimensions: Maximum 36 inches, Minimum 11 inches and no exceptions. Sculpture must not exceed 18 inches in any direction including base. Please frame with plexi if your work is large over 24 inches to prevent damage and if your work is valued over $400, it is suggested that you also carry private insurance.

Wow! Just thinking about those delicious refreshents at the reception on August 5 makes it all worthwhile. Springpoint shows us terrific hospitality.

Hope to see you there,

Seniors Rock!