The outgoing president's departure from the race may disappoint his rivals more than his admirers.
Guest Commentary |
For better or worse
by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator
He is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
Commentary |
Free tax filing: A crucial step toward unrigging our economy
from Susan Harley
Over the next several weeks the Direct File pilot will be ramping up in the states where it’s being offered: Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
Each year many Americans pay a steep cost when doing their taxes. It’s not just the money people shell out to use software to file taxes online, but also the time spent and the stress that comes with worrying an honest mistake will be held against them.
Luckily, change is in the air this spring. Eligible filers in a dozen states will finally have a true public option this tax season: a new free, online, mobile-friendly software from the IRS called Direct File.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich/PEXELS
Available in both English and Spanish, the new software pilot is starting small and will only be available to people with simple taxes who file with only limited types of incomes, credits, and deductions. While the Direct File tool won’t be available to everyone right away, it’s a crucial step toward unrigging our economy and protecting people’s pocketbooks.
While there has technically been a Free File program at the IRS for decades, it has not lived up to its promise.
Buoyed by funding the IRS received though the Inflation Reduction Act, the Direct File pilot is another example of the Biden administration’s commitment to tackle junk fees that chip away at people’s economic wellbeing and to foster a government that better serves the American people.
Direct File is also a recognition that struggling families shouldn’t have to pay money they can’t afford just to do their civic duty. The tool aims to make it easier for folks to get the refund they’re owed and to address the problem of one in five eligible recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit not claiming it.
While there has technically been a Free File program at the IRS for decades, it has not lived up to its promise. Only a tiny percentage of eligible filers — about 2 percent — use it. And there was a high-profile data breach where corporate partners in the program shared sensitive tax information with Meta (formerly called Facebook) and Google.
Unsurprisingly, Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, has not been taking this budding threat to its behemoth earnings laying down. It’s poured a record amount into its lobbying, almost a million dollars in just the past three months.
But it’s going to take more than lobbying and a Super Bowl ad to revive Intuit’s tarnished image.
This St. Patrick’s Day, some lucky filers will find a pot of gold under the rainbow — around $150 or more on average back in their pockets that they didn’t have to give to a greedy corporation just to use software.
Intuit entered into a $141 million settlement last year to resolve claims that it steered low-income customers to paid products when they were eligible to use free services. And the Federal Trade Commission ruled in January that the company’s advertising about free tax prep was deceptive.
The Direct File tool is expected to be live to the public in those 12 states in early to mid-March. That means that this St. Patrick’s Day, some lucky filers will find a pot of gold under the rainbow — around $150 or more on average back in their pockets that they didn’t have to give to a greedy corporation just to use software to help them file their taxes online.
Direct File is the first brick in the road to return-free filing that many of our international peers enjoy, where they simply approve their pre-calculated return prepared by the government.
Like a garden, though, Direct File will only flourish with care and attention. Let’s make sure it doesn’t die on the vine! Help spread the word, check your eligibility at directfile.irs.gov, and visit act.citizen.org/page/62332/petition/ to get reminded when it’s go time for Direct File in your state.
About the author ~
Susan Harley is the managing director for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
Editorial |Americans are losing the damn minds
Seriously, who in their right mind would want to live under a dictatorship, even if for a day?
An article on the right-leaning website called The Hill published a story yesterday citing a survey from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and YouGov that said, "74 percent of Republican voters said it would be a good idea if Trump follows through on his remarks in which he said he would be a dictator only on the first day of his second term." According to the survey, only 26 percent of Republicans polled, it would be a bad thing.
At least independent voters, dangling from a fourth-story balcony, still have at least a palm on the ledge of sanity. Sixty-five percent said it would be a bad idea as opposed to the 36% who were okay with it.
Pardon me.
When did democracy and the pursuit of quiet life, liberty, and justice go out of vogue? Why are so many conservative voters today ready to wipe their arses with that single-ply paper from 1789 that all but guaranteed their freedom from oppression, the right express themselves, and established a clear path to air their grievances?
Tell me why they spit the largest, thickest, puss-filled loogie they can muster on the graves of their ancestors, many of whom fought and died for our great nation to preserve its ideas and greatness.
A large chunk of the American population is losing its mind. Logic and critical thinking seemingly are becoming a rare commodity. One can make a convincing argument, although admittedly anecdotal at this point, that multiple COVID infections have damaged the prefrontal cortex of a large segment of society and possibly reduced their mental capacity to that of a hamster.
Seriously, who in their right mind would want to live under a dictatorship, even if for a day?
No doubt those who approve of Donald Trump (or anyone else for that matter) having absolute power believe they would be immune to any of the decrees from his 'one day' dictatorial rule. Yes, many of their fellow Americans will suffer, and they are cool with that. What they fail to realize is that this type of power is an infection that can easily corrupt.
English Catholic historian and politician John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton wrote, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
This one-hitter of absolute power would be opium to Trump and those who successfully manipulate him. One day would turn into a few, and later into a week, then a month, and eventually into years. Quietly, those who thought they would not be in the crosshairs would find themselves the targets of oppression and discrimination.
If having a dictatorial government is so great, why do over a million people a year immigrate, legally or otherwise, to the United States from countries with authoritarian rule?
Seriously, who in their right mind would want to live under a dictatorship, even if for a day?
Commentary |It’s not ‘Inflation’ — We’re just getting ripped off
These corporate giants have no plans to bring prices down anytime soon.
by Lindsay Owens & Elizabeth Pancotti
Many Americans are still experiencing the sticker shock they first faced two years ago when inflation hit its peak. But if inflation is down now, why are families still feeling the pinch? The answer lies in corporate profits — and we have the data to prove it. Our new report for the Groundwork Collaborative finds that corporate profits accounted for more than half — 53 percent — of inflation from April to September 2023. That’s an astronomical percentage. Corporate profits drove just 11 percent of price growth in the four decades prior to the pandemic. Businesses have been quick to blame rising costs on supply chain shocks from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But two years later, our economy has mostly returned to normal. In some cases, companies’ costs to make things and stock shelves have actually decreased. Let’s demonstrate with one glaring example: diapers. The hyper-consolidated diaper industry is dominated by just two companies, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, which own well-known diaper brands like Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs. The cost of wood pulp, a key ingredient for making diapers absorbent, did spike during the pandemic, increasing by more than 50 percent between 2020 and 2021.
Corporate profits accounted for more than half of recent price increases. To stamp out inflation once and for all, we need to crack down on price gouging.
But last year it declined by 25 percent. Did that drop in costs lead Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark to lower their prices? Far from it. Diaper prices have increased to nearly $22 on average.
These corporate giants have no plans to bring prices down anytime soon. In fact, their own executives are openly bragging about how they’re going to “expand margins” on earnings calls. Procter & Gamble predicted $800 million in windfall profits as input costs decline. Kimberly-Clark’s CEO said the company has “a lot of opportunity” to expand margins over time.
It’s not just diapers — while many corporations were quick to pass along rising costs, they’ve been in no hurry to pass along their savings. A recent survey from the Richmond Fed and Duke University revealed that 60 percent of companies plan to hike prices this year by more than they did before the pandemic, even though their costs have moderated.
Photo: Israel Albornoz/Unsplash
Guest Commentary | We can’t go wrong with good information
by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator
We like good news but typically the news is not good. Too often no news is good news. In reality, no news is bad news for us all.
There is lots of recent bad news. A crazed gunman entered a dance hall in Monterey Park, California killing 10 people and wounding many innocent people. A former employee walked into an Evansville, Indiana Walmart and shot an employee in the face in the store breakroom. The shooter was killed by local police. A planned protest in downtown Atlanta turned violent when protestors damaged stores and burned a police car over the weekend.
We did hear astonishing good news from Monterey Park. Brandon Tsay confronted the gunman at a second location where he was about to enter and kill more people. He heroically wrestled the gun away from the killer and pointed it at him causing the gunman to leave the scene. Only God knows how many lives Tsay saved. He is a true hero.
News is always happening nationally, locally and individually to us all. We need the information whether it’s good or bad. We need the national and regional news but the local news is up front and close to us.
For example, all around us we are targets of scams, thieves and prowling bad people. Americans were scammed to the tune 5.8 billion dollars in 2021. (Digital Guardian). We are never beyond being duped. Today, daily text messages, emails, phone calls and mail come to Americans phishing for a sucker who will buy the false story they are telling. They are good at what they do.
My son was away in a foreign country when I was duped out of $350 years ago. The caller was very professional sounding and convincing. I believed that if I did not pay the money owed by my son it would negatively impact his career. This was at the beginning of the telephone scam industry and I paid him the money. Later I realized that I had been scammed.
Years ago, a dear friend received a telephone call from someone posing as an IRS agent. The scammer told the senior adult man that he owed $45,000 in back taxes for various reasons. The friend was about 90 years old and living on a meager retirement income. He didn’t realize he was being scammed, was overwhelmed with anxiety and killed himself.
“At every level of life there is a new devil,” an old friend once said. At every stage of life there are new twists, turns and curves. We are never beyond being informed, learning and developing. Young people make mistakes but so do old people. We often think we’ve lived long enough and know most everything, but we don’t. Most of us have become more aware of this problem but crooks work at catching people off guard and are constantly developing new schemes.
Today, we have search engines and are inundated with news and information. However, we don’t hear all the news nor do we know everything we need to know when we need to know. Often, we learn the hard way. This is why education is expensive. Life experience education is often the most expensive and difficult of all learning processes. Even in life education we learn but we don’t always utilize the life experience very much. Too often we repeat the same mistakes hoping for a different outcome.
We can’t go wrong with good information. This is why you need the publication you are reading. Your local paper and online news sources are crucial to a community’s health and overall well-being. Local newspapers, blogs and online sources tell what is happening in your local town and county. Support this news source with your subscription and advertising needs. County newspapers that have been around for years continue to close. Every week I receive notification of a newspaper printing its final edition and that’s not good news.
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We like good news but typically the news is not good. Too often no news is good news. In reality, no news is bad news for us all.
There is lots of recent bad news. A crazed gunman entered a dance hall in Monterey Park, California killing 10 people and wounding many innocent people. A former employee walked into an Evansville, Indiana Walmart and shot an employee in the face in the store breakroom. The shooter was killed by local police. A planned protest in downtown Atlanta turned violent when protestors damaged stores and burned a police car over the weekend.
We did hear astonishing good news from Monterey Park. Brandon Tsay confronted the gunman at a second location where he was about to enter and kill more people. He heroically wrestled the gun away from the killer and pointed it at him causing the gunman to leave the scene. Only God knows how many lives Tsay saved. He is a true hero.
News is always happening nationally, locally and individually to us all. We need the information whether it’s good or bad. We need the national and regional news but the local news is up front and close to us.
For example, all around us we are targets of scams, thieves and prowling bad people. Americans were scammed to the tune 5.8 billion dollars in 2021. (Digital Guardian). We are never beyond being duped. Today, daily text messages, emails, phone calls and mail come to Americans phishing for a sucker who will buy the false story they are telling. They are good at what they do.
My son was away in a foreign country when I was duped out of $350 years ago. The caller was very professional sounding and convincing. I believed that if I did not pay the money owed by my son it would negatively impact his career. This was at the beginning of the telephone scam industry and I paid him the money. Later I realized that I had been scammed.
Years ago, a dear friend received a telephone call from someone posing as an IRS agent. The scammer told the senior adult man that he owed $45,000 in back taxes for various reasons. The friend was about 90 years old and living on a meager retirement income. He didn’t realize he was being scammed, was overwhelmed with anxiety and killed himself.
“At every level of life there is a new devil,” an old friend once said. At every stage of life there are new twists, turns and curves. We are never beyond being informed, learning and developing. Young people make mistakes but so do old people. We often think we’ve lived long enough and know most everything, but we don’t. Most of us have become more aware of this problem but crooks work at catching people off guard and are constantly developing new schemes.
Today, we have search engines and are inundated with news and information. However, we don’t hear all the news nor do we know everything we need to know when we need to know. Often, we learn the hard way. This is why education is expensive. Life experience education is often the most expensive and difficult of all learning processes. Even in life education we learn but we don’t always utilize the life experience very much. Too often we repeat the same mistakes hoping for a different outcome.
We can’t go wrong with good information. This is why you need the publication you are reading. Your local paper and online news sources are crucial to a community’s health and overall well-being. Local newspapers, blogs and online sources tell what is happening in your local town and county. Support this news source with your subscription and advertising needs. County newspapers that have been around for years continue to close. Every week I receive notification of a newspaper printing its final edition and that’s not good news.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.
This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
Guest Commentary: Would Roosevelt have a chance if he was running for office today?
by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator
One of the greatest Presidents of all time was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served from 1933 to 1945. He led this country and saw us through some of our toughest years. Many say he stands as the greatest President of all time. Ironically, he had a difficult time standing.
Photographs of Roosevelt in a wheelchair are rare but you can find one on the Internet.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, was our 32nd President but he began experiencing symptoms of a paralytic illness in 1921 when he was 39 years old. His main symptoms were fever; symmetric, ascending paralysis; facial paralysis; bowel and bladder dysfunction; numbness and hyperesthesia; and a descending pattern of recovery. He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and underwent years of therapy, including hydrotherapy at Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt remained paralyzed from the waist down and relied on a wheelchair and leg braces for mobility, which he took efforts to conceal in public. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, leading to the development of polio vaccines. Although historical accounts continue to refer to Roosevelt's case as polio, the diagnosis has been questioned in the context of current medical science, with a competing diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome proposed by some authors.
We could talk and write about Franklin D. Roosevelt all day. However here are a few of his noted accomplishments from his 12 years of service – longer than anyone. Creation of the emergency banking act to counteract the Great Depression. Establishment of FDIC. Unemployment rate reduction. Setup many institutions to support the New Deal. Created institutions as part of the New Deal. Created the U.S. Social Security System. Established the minimum wage and 40-hour work week. He took action to prohibit discrimination in employment, led America to victory in World War II, and, took part in the creation of the United Nations. He also aided water pollution control and more. (Wikipedia)
However, would Roosevelt even have a chance today? Can you imagine him trying to conceal his wheelchair or his leg braces? Not in this age. Would The Press and the opposition tear him to sheds as being physically incapable of holding down the job?
Disabled Americans and people worldwide can point to Roosevelt as someone who dealt with tremendous physical obstacles to accomplish much for our country and the world.
Americans with disabilities should not be excluded from running for public office. We vote for who we want to vote for but in a free country all citizens should be able to try.
John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is trying. He has had a stroke, but he’s trying. It has been amazing to witness the amount of support Pennsylvania has given Fetterman. He is in a dead heat race with national celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz whose star power as a long time TV doctor star has surely greatly boosted him in his race with Fetterman for the United States Senate.
Tragically, Fetterman’s health apparently prevents him from articulating clearly. His mental ability to quickly process what he is hearing is obviously impaired. This has to make it tough for him. Roosevelt did not have this problem. His mind appeared to be sharp and his speech clear and convincing during his years as President. This is where Roosevelt’s situation and Fetterman’s is different.
Fetterman needs and deserves time to heal. He obviously needs continuing medical treatment and therapy to recuperate from his stroke. He is still a young man. In a year, or two he may be fully recovered and more able to serve. This is unfortunate for Fetterman and his supporters but only makes sense for his personal health. The fact that he is running for such a demanding job in his current state demonstrates that his mental clarity is somewhat impaired. It also demonstrates that people close to him are mentally impaired to have encouraged him to continue in this political contest. He needs time to get well so that if elected he can serve effectively.
The bottom line is that voters will decide who represents them. This is one right we must continue to cherish, protect and be mentally clear about.
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One of the greatest Presidents of all time was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served from 1933 to 1945. He led this country and saw us through some of our toughest years. Many say he stands as the greatest President of all time. Ironically, he had a difficult time standing.
Photographs of Roosevelt in a wheelchair are rare but you can find one on the Internet.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, was our 32nd President but he began experiencing symptoms of a paralytic illness in 1921 when he was 39 years old. His main symptoms were fever; symmetric, ascending paralysis; facial paralysis; bowel and bladder dysfunction; numbness and hyperesthesia; and a descending pattern of recovery. He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and underwent years of therapy, including hydrotherapy at Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt remained paralyzed from the waist down and relied on a wheelchair and leg braces for mobility, which he took efforts to conceal in public. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, leading to the development of polio vaccines. Although historical accounts continue to refer to Roosevelt's case as polio, the diagnosis has been questioned in the context of current medical science, with a competing diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome proposed by some authors.
We could talk and write about Franklin D. Roosevelt all day. However here are a few of his noted accomplishments from his 12 years of service – longer than anyone. Creation of the emergency banking act to counteract the Great Depression. Establishment of FDIC. Unemployment rate reduction. Setup many institutions to support the New Deal. Created institutions as part of the New Deal. Created the U.S. Social Security System. Established the minimum wage and 40-hour work week. He took action to prohibit discrimination in employment, led America to victory in World War II, and, took part in the creation of the United Nations. He also aided water pollution control and more. (Wikipedia)
However, would Roosevelt even have a chance today? Can you imagine him trying to conceal his wheelchair or his leg braces? Not in this age. Would The Press and the opposition tear him to sheds as being physically incapable of holding down the job?
Disabled Americans and people worldwide can point to Roosevelt as someone who dealt with tremendous physical obstacles to accomplish much for our country and the world.
Americans with disabilities should not be excluded from running for public office. We vote for who we want to vote for but in a free country all citizens should be able to try.
John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is trying. He has had a stroke, but he’s trying. It has been amazing to witness the amount of support Pennsylvania has given Fetterman. He is in a dead heat race with national celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz whose star power as a long time TV doctor star has surely greatly boosted him in his race with Fetterman for the United States Senate.
Tragically, Fetterman’s health apparently prevents him from articulating clearly. His mental ability to quickly process what he is hearing is obviously impaired. This has to make it tough for him. Roosevelt did not have this problem. His mind appeared to be sharp and his speech clear and convincing during his years as President. This is where Roosevelt’s situation and Fetterman’s is different.
Fetterman needs and deserves time to heal. He obviously needs continuing medical treatment and therapy to recuperate from his stroke. He is still a young man. In a year, or two he may be fully recovered and more able to serve. This is unfortunate for Fetterman and his supporters but only makes sense for his personal health. The fact that he is running for such a demanding job in his current state demonstrates that his mental clarity is somewhat impaired. It also demonstrates that people close to him are mentally impaired to have encouraged him to continue in this political contest. He needs time to get well so that if elected he can serve effectively.
The bottom line is that voters will decide who represents them. This is one right we must continue to cherish, protect and be mentally clear about.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.
This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
Letter to the Editor: New postmaster honored to serve the community
Dear Editor,
It is a great honor to serve Tolono as your new Postmaster. In my years with the United
States Postal Service, I have seen firsthand the role the Postal Service plays connecting
neighbors and our community to the nation. Our Post Offices serve as a lifeline for our
small businesses to reach customers no matter where they are.
Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s leadership and Delivering For America, the
Postal Service’s 10-year plan, we are maintaining universal six-day mail delivery and
expanded seven-day package delivery, stabilizing our workforce, and spurring innovation
to meet the needs of our modern customers.
Just as the Postal Service continues to provide a vital service for our nation, the staff of
the Tolono Post Office will proudly continue that same public service in this community.
On behalf of the 650,000 women and men of the United States Postal Service, I thank
you for continuing to support the Postal Service. Providing reliable mail delivery while
strengthening the future of this treasured institution is our commitment to you.
Sincerely,
Nicole Summar
Postmaster
Nicole Summar
Postmaster
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