Thanks, Social Security Department, for the cost of living adjustment
Editor: I want to thank the Social Security Department for the substantial cost of living adjustment (COLA) they blessed me with this year. This years COLA was 0.3 percent. For me, this worked out to a wind fall profit of $5.88 per month.
At first I was not sure how to spend this blessing, but as I continued to read the letter, it became apparent that Social Security had solved my problem. Lucky for me the cost of Medicare the medical insurance deduction will work out to be $5.88 per month.
So I will receive the same amount of monthly benefit as last year and the year before (last year there was no COLA increase). Now all I have to do is pray that all my monthly bills stay the same as last year.
Now I know why our state and federal legislators have exempted themselves from Social Security. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
CARL BRUSH Lodi
It may not be a wonderful life?
Editor: In “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the main character is shown two life paths, the community of Bedford Falls or Pottersville (Trumpville). For the great majority of us who are ordinary people, not millionaires, the question to be asked in four years is, “Am I better off than I was in January 2017?” An answer is only possible if the real facts about January 2017 are still available unaltered, and if the information in January 2021 is real and not completely fake news. (Refer to the book “1984.”)
FRED DANIELSON Woodbridge
End of dissent in America
Editor: If Trump doesn’t castigate you, his Republican apologists will. First Donald Trump tore into the cast of the “Hamilton” musical for their first amendment speech. Next cyberbully Trump, in another of his Twitter attacks, chastised union leader Chuck Jones for pointing out that Trump exaggerated the number of Carrier Corporation jobs he saved from going to Mexico.
This morning we read that Herr Trump’s transition team is seeking the names of federal workers who worked on the international climate pact. What!!! For all you Trump apologists who say “give Donald a chance” get real. This man hasn’t changed from his campaign bombast and the more we let him get away with the scarier he gets.
RON LOWE Nevada City