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Federal Govt program (sm)

Posted By: MTME on 2006-01-28
In Reply to: Yes, you can do via mail or electronically - sm - Laura E.

I am going to ask my tax person about this. I am currently working for a company as an IC, but now I'm thinking it should actually be called SE status, since they withhold, what looks like, about 7% of my income for OASDI and medicare. I also worked for MQ as an SE and they took out FICA, so I think I'm okay for now. However, if I switch jobs, I will need to make sure this is taken care.


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I agree with "Snow Bunny" Federal govt. sm
Everyone new that New Orleans was pooooooooooooooooooooor
We did this. We went through HUD or some federal program
that loaned us the closing costs and down payment on a second mortgage.  It was paid off within five years.
Section 8 housing. It's a federal program through HUD.
Google it "Section 8" housing to verify.
Good point. Welfare abusers, govt program misuse gets PR,
p
Federal holiday, banks and federal offices closed, but
schools and everything else open here. 
Fed govt should have been prepared.
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Los Angeles Times
Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects

By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette Times Staff Writers Sun Sep 4, 7:55 AM ET

WASHINGTON — For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the city of New Orleans.
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As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding — and being brushed aside.

In late May, the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers formally notified Washington that hurricane storm surges could knock out two of the big pumping stations that must operate night and day even under normal conditions to keep the city dry.

Also, the Corps said, several levees had settled and would soon need to be raised. And it reminded Washington that an ambitious flood-control study proposed four years before remained just that — a written proposal never put into action for lack of funding.

What a powerful hurricane could do to New Orleans and the area's critical transportation, energy and petrochemical facilities had been well understood. So now, nearly a week into the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, hard questions are being raised about Washington officials who crossed their fingers and counted on luck once too often. The reasons the city's defenses were not strengthened enough to handle such a storm are deeply rooted in the politics and bureaucracy of Washington.

With the advantage of hindsight, the miscues seem even broader. Construction proposals were often underfunded or not completed. Washington officials could never agree on how much money would be needed to protect New Orleans. And there hung in the air a false sense of security that a storm like Katrina was a long shot anyway.

As a result, when the immediate crisis eases and inquiries into what went wrong begin, there is likely to be responsibility and blame enough for almost every institution in Washington, including the White House, Congress, the Army Corps of Engineers and a host of other federal agencies.

For example, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the Corps commander, conceded Friday that the government had known the New Orleans levees could never withstand a hurricane higher than a Category 3. Corps officials shuddered, he said, when they realized that Katrina was barreling down on the Gulf Coast with the vastly greater destructive force of a Category 5 — the strongest type of hurricane.

Washington, he said, had rolled the dice.

Rather than come up with the extra millions of dollars needed to make the city safer, officials believed that such a devastating storm was a small probability and that, with the level of protection that had been funded, "99.5% of the time this would work."

Unfortunately, Strock said, "we did not address the 0.5%."

Corps officials said the floodwaters breached at two spots: the 17th Street Canal Levee and the London Avenue Canal Levee. Connie Gillette, a Corps spokeswoman, said Saturday there never had been any plans or funds allocated to shore up those spots — another sign the government expected them to hold.

Nevertheless, the Corps hardly was alone in failing to address what it meant to have a major metropolitan area situated mostly below sea level, sitting squarely in the middle of the Gulf Coast's Hurricane Alley.

Many federal, state and local flood improvement officials kept asking for more dollars for more ambitious protection projects. But the White House kept scaling down those requests. And each time, although congressional leaders were more generous with funding than the White House, the House and Senate never got anywhere near to approving the amounts that experts had said was needed.

What happened this year was typical: Local levee and flood prevention officials, along with Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), asked for $78 million in project funds.
President Bush offered them less than half that — $30 million. Congress ended up authorizing $36.5 million.

Since Bush took office in 2001, local experts and Landrieu have asked for just short of $500 million. Altogether, Bush in his yearly budgets asked for $166 million, and Congress approved about $250 million.

These budget decisions reflect a reality in Washington: to act with an eye toward short-term political rewards instead of making long-term investments to deal with problems.

Vincent Gawronski, an assistant professor at Birmingham Southern College in Alabama who studies the political impact of natural disasters, said the lost chances to shore up the levees were a classic example of government leaders who, although meaning well, clashed over priorities.

"Elected politicians are in office for a limited amount of time and with a limited amount of money, and they don't really have a long-term vision for spending it," he said.

"So you spend your pot of money where you feel you're going to get the most political support so you can get reelected. It's very difficult to think long-term. If you invest in these levees, is that going to show an immediate return or does it take away from anything else?"

Gawronski said flood control projects do not have the appeal of other endeavors, such as cancer research and police protection. At the same time, Congress habitually approves billions of dollars for highways and bridges and other infrastructure that politically benefits individual congressmen.

Gawronski called it inexcusable for the United States to have been "gambling so long" that the old levee system in New Orleans would hold.

"Disasters are often low probability, high consequence events, so there's a gamble there," he said. "It's not going to happen on my watch, there's the potential it might, but I'll bet it won't."

In the case of New Orleans and flood control, another factor was at work: the reputation of the Corps of Engineers. Over the years, many in Washington had come to regard the Corps as an out-of-control agency that championed huge projects and sometimes exaggerated need and benefits.

The Corps began as a tiny regiment during the Revolutionary War era; it now employs about 35,000 people to build dams, deepen harbors, dig ditches and erect seawalls, among other things. But critics say some projects are make-work boondoggles.

In 2000, Corps leaders were found to have manipulated an economic study to justify a Mississippi River project that would have cost billions. The agency also launched a secret growth initiative to boost its budget by 50%. And the
Pentagon found in 2000 that the Corps' cost-benefit analyses were systematically skewed to warrant large-scale construction projects.

As a result, said a senior staffer with the Senate Appropriations Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity, requests by the Corps for flood control money were especially vulnerable to budget cutting. "A lot of people just look at it as pork," said the staffer.

The Bush administration's former budget director, Mitch Daniels, was known as an aggressive advocate for Corps reform who cast a skeptical eye on its budget requests.

"The Army Corps of Engineers has a very large budget, and it has grown a lot over recent years," Daniels, now the governor of Indiana, said. "To the extent there's been any limitation of [the Corps'] budget, it has to do with previous tendencies to build marinas and things that don't have much to do with preparing us for disaster."

The Bush White House maintains it never ignored the security needs of the Gulf Coast. "Flood control has been a priority of this administration from Day One," said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

He said hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in the New Orleans area in recent years for flood prevention, and he said the failure of the levees was not a matter of money so much as a problem with drawing the right plans for the dike work and other improvements.

"It's been more of a design issue with the levees," he said.

Other administration officials said there were not enough construction companies and equipment to handle all the work that had been proposed.

John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who has responsibility for the Corps of Engineers, said: "It's true, we cannot accomplish all of our projects at full funding all the time. I think that's true of any agency, particularly any public works agency, but we had a lot of work underway in New Orleans, and I was personally supportive of it.

"As a native of Louisiana," Woodley said, "I understand the problems associated with flooding in New Orleans. I don't think there's any lack of support for flood control projects in New Orleans, particularly within the context of other projects around the country."

On Capitol Hill in recent years, several Democrats warned that more money should be marked for the protection of New Orleans. For instance, in September 2004, Landrieu said she was tired of hearing there was no money to do more work on levees.

"We're told, can't do it this year. Don't have enough money. It's not a high enough priority," she said in a Senate speech. "Well, I know when it's going to get to be a high enough priority."

She then told of a New Orleans emergency worker who had collected several thousand body bags in the event of a major flood. "Let's hope that never happens," she said.

But in May 2004, then Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he had visited the levees as a guest of Landrieu and believed them adequate.

He praised the ancient water pumps for keeping the waters from cascading into the city, proclaiming them "these old, old pumps that hadn't been changed since before the turn of the century, that still keep New Orleans dry."

"It was as clean as a restaurant," he added. "These big old pumps work."

Today, eight of those 22 pumps are underwater and inoperable.

Over the years, several projects either were short-changed or never got started. The Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project was authorized by Congress after a rainstorm killed six people in May 1995. It was to be finished in 10 years, but funding reductions prevented its completion before Katrina struck.

The Army Corps of Engineers did spend $430 million to renovate pumping stations and shore up the levees. But experts said the project fell behind schedule after funding was reduced in 2003 and 2004.

The Lake Pontchartrain Project was a $750-million Corps operation for new levees and beefed-up pumping stations. Because of funding cuts, it was only 80% complete when the hurricane hit.

The project that never was started was an examination of storm surges from large hurricanes. Congress approved the study but did not allocate the funds for it.

In May, AL Naomi, the Corps' senior project manager for the New Orleans district, reminded political and business leaders and emergency management officials that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane was always possible. After that meeting, Walter Brooks, the regional planning commission director, came away shaking his head.

"We've learned that we're not as safe as we thought we were," he told the local newspaper, the Times-Picayune.

Last week, Corps commander Strock defended past work, saying, it was his "personal and professional assessment" that work in New Orleans was never underfunded. What he meant by that, he explained, was that no one expected such a large disaster before all the renovations and other improvements could be completed.

"That was as good as it was going to get," he said. " We knew that it would protect from a Category 3 hurricane. In fact, it has been through a number of Category 3 hurricanes."

But, he said, Katrina's intensity "simply exceeded the design capacity of the levee."

Asked whether in hindsight he wished more had been done, Strock said: "I really don't express surprise in my business. We don't sit around and say 'Gee whiz.' "

Times staff writer Mary Curtius contributed to this report.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/20050904/ts_latimes/despitewarningswashingtonfailedtofundleveeprojects
they deserve the 2,000 from govt
Do you keep track what is happening to our tax money for Iraq?  Halliburton?  FEMA?  Homeland Security Dept?  How much do we pay each politician and do they work 8 hours or more a day?  Did they check with the tax payer when they went on a months paid vacation?  Our taxes also pay for politicians health plans.  Dont worry you wont feel it, you will continue to pay the same taxes.  These people were displaced, due to a major screw up, either local, state or federal govt..The investigation will tell.  In the meantime, they no longer have jobs, escaped with the clothes on their bodies, they have no money.  The govt is now their employer until they can get new jobs and homes.  Do you tell your employer what you do with each paycheck?  Well, they shouldnt have to either.  They werent asking for hand outs, then the hurricane and levee broke.  It is not their fault, they are victims..It is the govts fault, either local, state or federal.  Buy alcohol?  LOL, I think I would buy them a beer after all they have gone through and still are going through.  Our tax money is wasted every day by the govt, give aways, pay offs, pork, mismanagement.  At least I know my tax money is going to human beings that are in dire need.  God help them all to get over this preventable tragedy.
Govt responsibility
Totally agree with you.  I dont care if some were not prepared..what I care about is now they are hungry, thirsty, homeless..It is the responsibility of our government and the brothers and sisters of America to help other Americans when they need help.  I am from NY and I have been through quite a few hurricanes..nothing like what Florida goes through but I do know hurricanes hit sometimes when you are a day or two from your paycheck and really dont have any money to go shopping or rent out a hotel room.  It scares me that so many Americans blame the victim and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to Americans in need. 
Too dependent on the govt?
Too dependent on the govt?  Then what the heck is the govt for?  Where is my tax dollars going?  Lets just get rid of the govt and have a free for all..Why depend on the govt to repair our bridges, pave our roads, conduct school?  Lets just do it ourselves..Ridiculous..The govt is there to care for this country and its people when the people cant do it themselves.
Govt contracts... been there
done that.  I wouldn't do another one in a million years.  Most are one-year contracts with 4 one-year renewals (their discretion, no guarantee).  Their systems are mostly Dictaphone, some with VPN for voice.  Most of the cost is on you for anything connected to account such as C-phones.  The amount of paperwork and reports they wanted daily was overwhelming.  They call you every 10 minutes 24/7 with "need it right now" stuff.  The 2 facilities I did had about 75% ESL doctors that rotated in/out every few months -- especially if a military hospital.  Then, because it's posted on the web site who was awarded the bid, I started getting a lot of calls from offshore companies wanting to work on the accounts, asking me not to tell the contractor.  I also got a few calls from offshore companies asking if I would "front" for them and bid on contracts cuz they needed an American company to actually have the contract.  As of just a few months ago, you needed evaluation from D&B (your cost $250) and their required liablity insurance limits (varies with accounts).  You don't just go in and bid -- it's a process of applying to be a vendor first and filling out LOTS of tedious paperwork.  (My last contract was about 80 pages long to fill out).  If you miss one little thing in this paperwork, your bid gets bounced.  They do call all of the required references, and if you haven't done the VA contract volume before, it's not likely they will award you contract.  Getting paid took literally months - I was about broke and had borrowed money before I got my first check.   (We didn't do anything incorrectly for billing, just took that long cuz it sat on somebody's desk)  I'm sure others have had better luck - this was just our experience with these contracts.   I wish you better luck!
good ole' govt
I was shocked to find that Pres. Bush states that offshoring helps our economy. Was all over the news last week. Was going to take some time out to read more online about his thoughts, but realize, I have too much work to do and would prefer to read up on who is running next year, so why give him anymore of my time. I am one of many hardworking Americans trying to raise my family and provide for them, I do not need him or anyone else telling the US that outsourcing is good for anyone.
Exactly! If the govt was not using the money for --sm
everything else in its brother, there would be enough for all of us who are paying into the system, and I really do not believe that the original system was designed to help only those who fell on hard times, or that it is a handout. It was supposed to be used as an "account" for those who wish to retire. and to the person who said that SS disability money came from the same account, sooo wrong. entirely different program, entirely different funds. SSI and SS are two different entities.
Quit the job and let the govt pay. sm
The way I look at it, 49% of the people in this country voted to have the govt take care of them, so go for it. It's what they want.

My whole outlook on this country and its people has changed since the election. I've worked for 36 years, since the age of 16, have always supported myself, but paid taxes upon taxes to support others because they were too lazy or too entitled to support themselves, and now they have voted to have more of my hard work be THEIR reward. Screw 'em all.

My husband's job is going to Mexico soon. His prospects will be dim for anything other than a minimum wage job (age and lack of degree), so you can bet I will now take advantage of everything our wonderful govt has to offer; food stamps, healthcare, unemployment pay, paid job training, assistance with utilies. You name it. I'm taking it. Maybe I'll even be able to qualify for (un)Earned Income Tax credits. Woohoo!

I'm going to quit smoking (no support for SCHIP), quit consuming (no sales tax), drive an older model car (less personal property tax in the till), earn only what we need to stay under the income guidelines. Yeah, let's have some more of that redistribution of wealth as it sure won't be dollars earned with my blood, sweat, and tears they redistribute. Not anymore.
why are you allowing the govt to keep your money

I don't want the govt telling businesses how
That is MY privilege to negotiate with my employer!

Too much interference by governments already by forcing minimum wage, etc.

You'll have businesses closing down if you put too much mandatory regulation in the mix. It's a free enterprise, you know.


Maybe the govt will give them a bailout
x
Federal ID #

If there is a "mother company" that is overall all the smaller companies sometimes the ID could be the same -- I think.  My husband drove a truck for Dalles Mavis that was owned by Active Transportation that all has other comanies.  All of hs W2 forms, etc. came from Active with their ID number on it though he worked directly for Dallas-Mavis.    Even when he moved to Texas and worked there instead of Oregon, his W2's all came from Active. 


They won't be saving anything since if you made $5000 from Company B and they deduct it from Company A, they will be paying taxes more taxes from Company B and less from Company A but again, if there is a corporation over all of the companies, it will all be merged in together to pay taxes on the "profit" from the corporation.   Just like being married, your husband can over withold and pay for your taxes because you merge your income together.   Just hopefully be requesting that they issue you another 1099 that they don't send both into the IRS and so the IRS thinks you made $10,000 and not $5,000.  


 


There is no such federal law! :)
Every employer has the right to answer questions about former employees. Most prefer to not go into too many details. Asking whether or not an employee is eligible for rehire is a very common question.


No, she does not.She will be asking us "the govt" to supply her necessities
and we will do it.  You and I, who carry Wal-Mart purses (speaking for myself, of course).  Makes me mad too.  I also noticed the Budweiser can.  Jaundiced eye?  I think not.
Govt should help the citizens in natural disasters
I disagree 100%.  If you dont have the govt to turn to, who can you turn to?  What are we paying taxes for..to continue a never ending war around the world?  What is FEMA for..to pay big salaries to Bush's cronies?  My gosh..if families didnt get water and food in time, I say government get your stuff together you need to help the citizens of America. 
as long as the govt continually refuses to

Our kids will be at risk.  I am one who pushed for public schools, thinking if a kid can get through public schools they end up being able to deal with all types/cultures of people.  The govt puts *security guards* in most public schools and the incidents have escalated in the past 20 years!!!  Until the govt cares about our kids, IN ALL AREAS, we are not safe.  I just read today that the US is not checking prisoner mail all across this country regarding terrorists....it's like it's a HALF-ARSED job is being done....they are only going to START checking all the cargo on airplanes, did you know that?  Yep, the cargo underneath where we all sit on a plane is JUST NOW going to commence getting screened/checked.


It's, unfortunately, been evident to me for way too long a time in this country that they don't TRULY CARE about our children, and our children ARE THE FUTURE.  Really galls me and my child is now 25.  *tsk tsk on all of them.......


They were federal charges
go to a halfway house first, but I thought surely that the prison could tell me something, if that was the case?!  They just said he was out of custody and that's all they could tell me.  Thanks for the encouragement...it's appreciated!
You pay taxes to the Federal gov't, among others.
The question should not be about what taxes you pay and who gets the money. How governmental entities distribute the money is for them to worry about, not you. As an IC, you will have deductions available to you that are not available as an employee.

Only YOU can determine if the responsibility of being an IC is for you. There is so much more to IC status than taxes. My suggestion is to read up on what is involved in self-employment by checking out a book on entreprenurship from the library or do some reading on the Web. My guess is that you're not ready for this yet but you can be if you do your homework.
Is there federal money available

It occurred to me that it may be something we mention when writing/calling our government. 


I know that when Levi Strauss closed their factory in Roswell, NM, and sent it down to Mexico (thanks, NAFTA), they gave their workers money to retrain in a new profession.


Surely this is something that can be fought for.  We know darned well the MTSO's won't take money out of their own pocket to do this, but there was/is a government program called TAA which is supposed to help people who have lost work as a result of imports.  I think a case can be made for medical records transcribed overseas as qualifying as "imports". 


I found an old document on line at http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de8714x.pdf which describes that 3 or more workers who have been affected by imports can petition for federal money for assistance and retraining.  There's also JTPA/WIA which established one-stop career centers and I believe being laid off because of work being sent offshore (or just laid off, period) would qualify people for this program.


There's also this article, which I included a part of, that is talking about IT workers for Computer Sciences Corp (my brother happens to work for them and has survived the layoffs) filing suit....


*The department has long held that programmers who've lost jobs to cheaper, foreign workers aren't eligible for the TAA program because their employers, or employer's customers, are not importing a physical good in the same way as, say, steel manufacturers. A number of federal and state lawmakers have introduced bills that would automatically grant eligibility under the act to IT workers and other white collar professionals, but none has become law.


The labor department initially said that although CSC moved production of its Vantage-One insurance software from East Hartford to CSC India, the software was not an imported "article" as defined by the act. In a lawsuit, the workers asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to overturn the department's ruling. In January, trade court judge Nicholas Tsoucalas ordered the department to revisit the case, noting that, "Labor's interpretation of the law, that software code must be embodied on a physical medium to be an article under the Trade Act, is arbitrary and capricious."

In a Federal Register note published April 11, the Labor Department conceded the point and ruled that the four CSC workers would be eligible to apply for TAA assistance. In ruling, the department said it would henceforth look upon software, whether shipped into the U.S. on a disc or transmitted into the country via telecommunications networks, as a physical product.

Software and similar intangible goods that would have been considered articles for the purposes of the Trade Act if embodied in a physical medium will now be considered articles regardless of their method of transfer," the department wrote.*

Something to think about.

Also, I'm pretty sure we've been far OVERestimating how much money offshore people are paid for transcription.  Their companies might get 1 cent a line after it goes through 3 or 4 edits, but I'm pretty sure the person typing the report and mangling the English is paid more like 1/5 cent per line, which is still pretty good money for them.  My math is based on there being 40 rupees to a dollar, and 1/40 of 8 cents per line is 1/5 cent.  There was that article quoted on the company board from Manilla where they were gloating that their workers got $1 to $2 an hour and, if they're required to transcribe 1200 lines a day, that comes to 1/10 cent per line.  But that was back in 2005.

Back to the 1/5 cent.  So if the report goes through 3 or 4 edits, each getting paid their 1/5, then the Indian company keeps the 2 cents per line which is left over and our dear old MTSO here in the States charges the hospital what...11 cents?..pays our US MT 3 or 4 cents to edit.  So, 3 cents/line to the offshore company, 4 cents/line to our US editor, and the MTSO still pockets the 4 cents/line left over?  Why do you think we're seeing 7 cents/line more and more often as the going rate of pay?

Well, just some things to think about - I get my best ideas late, late at night!


While you're questioning qualifications for govt' office
How about Nagin, who had no updated disaster plan in place and blamed the federal government for his lack of expertise and experience?

How about Blanco who was told by none other than the Bush administration to start evacuation proceedings days before she ever did?

Tunnel vision, anyone?
Thanks for sharing this. If federal guidelines were followed,
the minimum wage earner could not even shop at Walmart---that's really sad!  This is just another point that shows that the government has obviously gotten too big for its people, $5.15 is a JOKE.  I'm glad some states actually have some sort of caring politicians.
I don't think FEDERAL varies whereas state...sm

I think states set their own regulations but I do believe that Federal is all one set of rules/regulations.  The police might be able to tell you but I think you'd find out so much more via the internet if you know what state he is in.  I found someone in jail recently.  I put in her name and she is locked up and probably going to get the books slammed at her.  Very young nonthinking girl too. 


All states and even federales have websites.  You can type in INMATE information and then the state and all kinds of links will come up.  You can probably this way find his name at some institution and if paroled, call the institution he was paroled from and find out more details if possible.


BEST of luck on this!!!  The internet is great for finding even old friends (I found several 30+ years after being in contact).


Question for ICs about SS and federal tax. I am new at this and I am wondering if you can pay
your federal tax and SS more often than quarterly so it doesnt turn out to be so much money.  I would pay the State and Local quarterly but would like to pay the fed more often.  Anybody do this or just file quarterly.
Can anyone that is an IC tell me when you send in your quarterly Federal and SS is there anywhere
you can check to make sure your money had been credit properly to your account to avoid problems at the end of the year.
HIPAA is a federal law, not State.
I could be wrong but I don't think you need to get the office to sign anything.  You just need to be HIPAA compliant on your end.  Double check on this though.
I have never found a program shorthand does not work with, it works outside the program (I think tha
nm
That has already been brought up by the govt.They asked Carnival cruise lines sm
to bring a ship into port and allow some residents to board the ship. Carnival says they will "consider" it. Carnival is owned by a Florida company...I can try to find the link for you where I read this.

I am irritated because "they have to think about it." If I owned the ship I would be more than happy to let the homeless use it for a while - at least a month - until they can get on their feet - get insurance stuff together, etc.

Carnival is taking WAYYYY too much time "thinking" about it as people lay dying in the streets of New Orleans
Pakistani govt will take care of it. They just arrest union leaders
x
Govt is promoting EMR to reduce health care costs.
Major cuts taking place in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. See Bush's Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, billions of dollars being cut. Word is that private insurance will follow suit, with higher deductibles among other things. You can thank the
I am going to have my son present this on Thursday for his position paper in Govt class.
One way to get people, even though they're seniors in high school besides the teacher, to become aware of this situation.  Because it's not just the VA, it's every record that goes overseas, and Mr. Messiah Obama, et. al., fail to understand that or address it.
Marie, what type of federal job, is this still medical? nm
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Probably 2 weeks and if i recall it will be on a Friday for Federal.
xx
Not to mention you're letting the govt use your money INTEREST FREE
Ack!

Now that said, I usually have them withhold a little too much simply because we can't take a payment hit.
With state and Federal, you 40% of your earnings GO, bottom line.
I don't know what's up for debate, it's fact.

Housing prices have gone up 40% in the past year alone in California.
The federal gov't is urging paperless MR to save costs.
dd
you're right, it's federal but diff for each state...see link...sm

http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm


ALL STATES PAY MINIMUM WAGE DIFFERENTLY - i.e., Arizona says *No state minimum wage law.*


Here's how foster-to-adopt works on the federal level...sm
All non-Caucasian over age 1 automatically get adoption assistance. All Caucasian kids over age 8 get adoption assistance. If you adopt a sibling group that is more than 2 kids you get adoption assistance. All special needs children qualify for adoption assistance. Adoption assistance usually means Medicaid until they're 18 and in a lot of cases the monthly per diem rate is paid to the adoptive family. For the special needs kids, sibling groups and non-white children that meet the adoption assistance criteria generally the fees for adoption are reimbursed up to $2000 - which is pretty much what all of the attorneys charge for these adoptions since Child Protective Services/DFCS does the majority of the paperwork.

We're currently in the process of adopting our 6-year-old foster child who has lived with me since she was almost 5. The adoption should be finalized in January after my husband meets the 6 months residency requirement (we got married in June and he moved here from another state at that time).
Social security is part of Federal taxes

Your SS is figured in on your schedule C -- after your deductions you pay on your net income and that is added to your federal taxes and you send in one check and pay it all.  You can do quarterly if you do not have a husband to over withold from or if you are not an employee on another job.  Social Security and Federal taxes are not two entities -- but one.


Patti


PRD is a DOS program. I don't think it work with Word, a Window's program.
x
It will count everything if you go in the settings and program it to. Good program!
Sylcount is an awesome and accurate counting program also. That will count everything if you "tell it to".
Is there any danger putting bank acct# and routing# on federal tax (sm)
tax form so as to get your refund by direct deposit? Can someone use this info to their advantage?
I figure income minus expenses, send 23% for federal and 7.5% to state--sm
quarterly. The state probably differs state to state, but that is the percentile my accountant came up with. Have never had to pay and additional.
File complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, your state attorney general, and the SM

state attorney general for the state The VLC is located in.  I happened to check it out and they have offices in Niagara Falls, NY and in Ontario.  Be sure to forward copies of every thing your file to them.  You can fill online complaint forms at the FTC website and the NY Attorney General's website.  Print out copies of these forms and mail copies of them after you fill them out to the school with a letter basically stating that you have reported them to these agencies and they will be intervening for you on this matter.


I also like the idea of putting cc's on your correspondence to a local news reporter.  And call them every single day until they are tired of hearing from you!


Good Luck!


You can use Shorthand in ANY program, it works outside your program
I have never found a platform it did not work with and I have worked on several different versions of Meditech. Just start using it.
I think all state labor laws are pretty much in line with the federal laws as far as PTO SM

among other things.  Basically, federal law states that an employer is not required to offer paid time off or paid holidays.  An employer doesn't have to pay you for time not worked.  It states quite clearly that PTO is an agreement between the employer and employee upon hire.  So, if you have an agreement with your employer stating you accrue PTO and get certain Holidays off with pay, then upon termination or resignation, you are entitled to any unused time you have accrued.  However, since not mandated by any state or federal laws, if an employer refuses to pay you for any unused PTO, you will have to take legal action, likely in small claims court.  You will probably eventually win, but you have to decide is it worth all the trouble and legal fees?


When you actually get right down to it, labor laws really don't do much for the working class.  We are not guaranteed anything except minimum wage and a safe work environment.


English may not be the official language on the federal level, but it is the NATIONAL language. sm
From Wikipedia:

Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, English is the national language.

In 2003, about 215 million, or 82 percent of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by over 10 percent of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught foreign language.[139][140] Immigrants seeking naturalization must know English. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.[141] Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[142] Several insular territories also grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[143]


P.S. Miami may be one of the largest cities, but it is still just one city located in one small state. There are 49 other states. Miami is just a small speck when you compare it to the rest of the United States.