A lonely woman meets a man online and sends him large chunks of money before realizing the fellow is not who he claims to be. An elderly man passes along financial information after a late-night caller reports that his grandson is in trouble in Canada. A widow sends money to a man who contacted her […]
Social Security
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Investigators: 36K got improper disability pay
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security made $1.3 billion in potentially improper disability payments to people who had jobs when they were supposed to be unable to work, congressional investigators said in a report Friday. The Government Accountability Office estimated that 36,000 workers got improper payments from December 2010 to January 2013. The numbers represent less […]
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Posted inLetters
J. Myrand: Leave Social Security alone
Historically, Democratic leaders have created and defended Social Security and Medicare. In Maine today, 94 percent of senior citizens are receiving Social Security benefits and 99 percent of people over 65 are on Medicare. People have paid into both those programs. They have earned those benefits. There has been a push by some Republicans to […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Ex-Brunswick pastor accused of having church pay wife while he collected disability
PORTLAND — The former pastor of a Brunswick church appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court on charges that he conspired with others to have his wife paid for work he did so that the minister would not lose his disability benefits. Carroll Freemont Pennell, 68, of Cushing, Texas, is charged with conspiracy to commit Social […]
Posted inLetters
R. Bechard: Benefits are not a handout
Government officials are calling Social Security benefits entitlement spending. But members of Congress have free health care insurance, outrageous retirement packages, dozens of paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation and paid sick days. To me, that’s welfare. And they call my Social Security retirement payments an entitlement? The only thing wrong with the government is […]