WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

* The word from the Social Security Administration –

“Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 62 million Americans will increase 1.7 percent in 2013, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 56 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2013.  Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2012.

Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages.  Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $113,700 from $110,100.”

* Trish McIntire discusses “Debt Reporting” at OUR TAXING TIMES.

Specifically –

“Currently, if you owe the IRS money, it generally doesn’t show up on your credit report. The exception is when a tax lien is filed on the debt. Since a lien is a public filing, the credit bureaus can easily find them. The IRS is not allowed to release other tax debts because of federal privacy laws. This could be changing.”

Trish rightfully suggests -

“Because of the impact a credit report can have on credit, housing and even employment, Congress needs to move carefully.”

Move carefully?  Considering the fact that the members of Congress are idiots – good luck with that!

* Interesting information from Professor Michael A. Bailey at YOU.GOV – “Only 22% Of Americans Think They Are In The 47%”.

* Kay Bell echoes what I have been saying here at TWTP for years – “Report All Your Income, Even if You Didn't Get an Earnings Statement” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

* With all the talk lately of the “Bowles-Simpson Report” you should check out a new website about the report and its recommendations titled “The Moment of Truth Project”.

* Speaking of Erskine and Alan, they have written an op-ed piece for USA TODAY titled “Debt Solution Must be Bipartisan” in which they state -

“If we can't get members of Congress to put aside their ultra-partisanship and pull together rather than apart, we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. Fortunately for everyone, it is also the most avoidable economic crisis in history.”

A tall order indeed – getting the idiots in Congress to “pull together”.  I thought of an obvious “off-color” comment – but I will avoid temptation.

THE FINAL WORD –

It seems that the first cancellation of the new television season is the CBS legal drama MADE IN JERSEY, which aired two episodes on Friday nights at 9:00 PM.  While nothing earth shattering, certainly no THE GOOD WIFE, I did see the two episodes and it was not bad.

Thanks to the steaming piles of excrement on cable stations that feature women supposedly from NJ the great unwashed masses apparently cannot accept that an intelligent female can come from the Garden State.  They flock to see brain-dead bimbos acting like skanks and sluts (not all are even from NJ – head JERSEY SHORE skank Spooky is certainly not), but won’t watch a relatively intelligent scripted drama. 

Perhaps if the star of the series had double D’s and gave head to all the male attorneys in the office it would have lasted longer.

TTFN