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OPINION
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Fauquier Times | August 12, 2020
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Born in 1960? Sound the alarm on a glitch in Social Security
If you are a baby boomer turning 60 in 2020, here’s something you need to know: without a legislative fix, your lifetime Social Security benefits are very likely to be permanently reduced, even if you wait to retire until full retirement age.
Reduced. Permanently. Permanently reduced.
The reason for this is due to the formula the Social Security Administration uses to calculate benefits. The Social Security Administration, according to its website, takes a “snapshot of average wages of every worker in the country and factors it into your benefit calculation.” This means benefits are based upon average wages across all sectors of the economy. Due to COVID-19, wages are projected to be down nearly 6%, as measured by the Average Wage Index. And, because each subsequent year’s benefits are based upon the recipient’s first year’s benefits, this cohort can anticipate reduced benefits for the rest of their lives.
The news gets even worse for wage-earners with significantly higher-than-average incomes as, dollar-wise, they stand to lose much more.
Then there is the knock-on effect. For survivors claiming a deceased spouse’s benefits, their monthly benefits will also be permanently reduced, as will those claiming Social Security Disability Income.
So, how did this problem arise?
Social Security was updated in 1977, and at that time no provision was made for dealing with a crisis that wrought devastation upon nearly all sectors of the economy – like, say, might occur with a global pandemic. There was ample warning indicating protections needed to be added when the dark economic times of 2008-2009 served as a shot over the bow. However, because the AWI fell only briefly and relatively insignificantly, no legislative action was taken to correct the glitch that came to light.
There is a proposal afoot to fix the problem. On Aug. 4, Rep. John Larson (D-CT), chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee, published an op/ed in which he calls upon “Republicans in Congress [to] join with House Democrats and correct this anomaly with the Social Security COVID Correction and Equity Act.” Chairman Larson’s proposed act would patch this hole and prevent a reduction that would have lifelong effects on a cohort already suffering financially on the doorstep of their retirement years.
Boomers have always been known for getting things done. But it’s hard to accomplish a task if there is no awareness the job needs doing.
Contact your congressperson and let him/her know the time to fix this is now.
If you do not know who your congressperson is, you can find that information at https://www.house. gov/htbin/findrep. Your future benefits – or the benefits of one you love – are riding on this. And the clock is ticking.
LAURIE MACNAUGHTON
Warrenton
Protecting one another from the virus would help make our country great again
I went to a local grocery store recently. In addition to displaying signs with the governor’s mandate to wear face masks, the store had an employee at the entrance reminding customers to wear their masks and offering free masks to those without one.
As I was shopping, two men came down my aisle holding their masks in their hands. I politely said that they should put their masks on. One became very agitated and told me that it was none of my business. I replied that it is my business and that I did not want myself or others to get sick because of his refusal to wear a mask.
He began to approach me, still agitated. I said that “The president is finally wearing his mask.”
The man stopped and said “Really? He’s wearing a mask?” I told him that if he watched FOX News, he’d see pictures of the president wearing a mask.
He paused for a moment and then put his mask on, telling the other man to put his on, too. This peacefully resolved incident prompted me to write this letter.
Years ago, laws were enacted that require occupants of a vehicle to wear a seat belt to protect their health in the event of a crash. Laws are also in place that mandate the use of child seats for children who are under a certain age and for those who do not meet height and weight standards. Similarly, many states have laws that require motorcyclists to wear a helmet. There are also laws that prohibit drugs from being dispensed without a doctor’s prescription. All of these laws are meant to protect the individual’s health and if violated, the police can issue a summons which can carry a hefty fine and in the case of drugs, can result in prison time.
Other than the outrage first exhibited by avid cyclists over the helmet law, which the vast majority now abide by in those states that require it, I can’t think of any other instances where ordinary people (other than criminals) refused to comply with a law or an executive mandate aimed to protect health. Until now.
While my story about the president wearing a mask is true – there are photos of the rare times he has done so - he continues to politicize the issue by refusing to say that everyone in the U.S. should wear a mask unless legitimate health concerns prohibit someone from doing so. For those people, the president should emphatically and publicly suggest that they limit their exposure to others.
The president rarely wears a mask; he has not made an unambiguous statement about them and continues to gather in situations where others are not wearing one. On this particular issue, the president’s failure to lead is having disastrous results across the country with ever-increasing infection rates and deaths. His example encourages his followers to flaunt mask wearing and proclaim that it’s a violation of their rights and personal “freedom” to ask them to do so. I’m quite sure that some of them think that “if the president isn’t going to wear one, neither will I.” In so doing, these people are putting the rest of us, who are trying to follow the science and the lawful executive mandates, at a greatly increased risk of infection.
Whether or not one supports the man in the Oval Office, we should all support our fellow citizen’s right to remain healthy and to avoid risking infection from a disease that is ravaging the country.
If you really want to “Make America Great Again”, wear your mask! A “great” country shouldn’t stand idly by as COVID-19 rages. A “great” county should not be among the world’s leaders in infection rates and deaths. A “great” country should follow the guidance from the world’s best scientists and finally, a “great” country should recognize that its elected leader just might have gotten the mask thing wrong.
JIM GEHRIS
Midland
What would the Greatest Generation have done?
I believe we need to really and truly ask ourselves why it is so important for kids to return to the schoolhouse in the immediate future. So important, that we are willing to risk their health, and the health and lives of their extended families, social circles and school staff members. What reasons are so imperative that we are willing to ignore the facts, most experts and the precedence of the past? We closed our schools to keep our children safe -- can we now really and truly say we know how to do that? The national death toll and resurgent spikes tell us we can’t.
During the Great Depression, when the economy truly crashed, when banks closed their doors and unemployment skyrocketed, when teachers and public servants went unpaid and thousands of schools were closed for years --- what happened to all of those students? The fact is we now look back and call them “The Greatest Generation.” Americans and their children proved to be resilient, resourceful, flexible and, above all, they survived.
So, again, why is it so important that children return to a schoolhouse now -- before we have the pandemic under control? Are we afraid that we have gone soft and that neither we nor our children can succeed outside the “box?” In our age of technology, we have options of which “The Greatest Generation” could not have conceived, so why do we find ourselves stuck in a faceto-face teaching paradigm that acts like we don’t?
WAYNE BERG
Warrenton
Letters to the Editor
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Food distribution set for Saturday
The Fauquier County Food Distribution Coalition is having a drive-thru food pick-up for those in need on Saturday, Aug. 15, from 9 a.m. until the food is gone at Warrenton United Methodist Church, 341 Church St., Warrenton.
Attendees are asked to follow pick-up directions and stay in their vehicle. Volunteers will place food in the vehicle.
Faith Community Nursing certificate offered free for local RNs
The PATH Foundation has partnered with Shenandoah University to offer a Faith Community Nursing certificate program at no cost to registered nurses in Fauquier, Rappahannock and northern Culpeper counties.
Applications for the hybrid, online certificate course are open until Aug. 13.
Faith Community Nursing is a nursing specialty focused on wholebody and spiritual care. The FCN certificate program is designed to give registered nurses a foundation to create accessible health programs for their faith communities, whether a congregation is gathering remotely or in person.
“Some folks might feel more comfortable speaking to a trained nurse that they know personally from their faith community, as opposed to some more traditional healthcare settings,” said Christy Connolly, president and CEO of the PATH Foundation. “By facilitating this training, we hope to increase access to care in our area.”
Faith Community Nursing program graduates have completed several programs in their communities. Sandy Shipe, a 2018 graduate of the program, installed an AED machine in her church, and set up tables to measure blood pressure and perform pulse and BMI checks. She consid
More than 10 years ago, the original grant applicant for the proposed Marshall Main Street Project was the Marshall Business & Residents Association, a decades-old civic group which was reorganized into a 501(c)(4), becoming eligible to apply for the grant to improve all of Main Street. I understand these grant applications were written for the MBRA by a real estate developer/ investor who moved into the area, won election to the board of supervisors for the Marshall District, and then shrunk the project down to only one block of Main Street.
Many in Marshall thought the project was dead after all these years, but then in September 2018, ers faith community nursing the perfect opportunity to connect her faith and her nursing skills. She said, “I know that there’s a need for care, and I want to be a resource for my church community. This program is a chance to make a real difference.”
The FCN certificate program will run from Aug. 21 to Oct. 23. Students must be registered nurses and include a clergy reference form in their application. To learn more information about the application, program or requirements, those interested may visit https://www.su.edu/ nursing/faith-community-nursing/.
‘Elevate Black Artists’ exhibit opens in downtown Culpeper
Elevate Co-Work & Community, at 107b E. Davis St., has compiled the work of local Black artists to create an exhibit titled “Elevate Black Artists.”
“This community art show honors and showcases the talents of several artists, of all ages, and is available to view both in person and virtually throughout the month of August,” according to a news release from Elevate.
The exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., plusSaturday, Aug. 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. To view the exhibit virtually, visitwww.elevateculpeper. comor follow Elevate on Facebook and Instagram @elevateculpeper.
Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department to offer fair food takeout
The annual Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department Fair set for August has been canceled, due to concerns about COVID-19.
But would-be fairgoers can still enjoy fair food.
Cole Shows Amusements will be set up in front of K & M Lawn, Garden & Arborist Supplies from Thursday, Aug. 13 to Sunday, Aug. 16, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. selling “good old-fashioned carnival-style current Supervisor Mary Leigh McDaniel and Fauquier County publicly unveiled the reworked plans to a large crowd at an MBRA meeting at the Marshall Community Center auditorium, where Mary Leigh told us all that this project is "a done deal" and that we had an absolute "dropdead date" of November 2018 for this project to go to bid or we would lose the grant money. There have been many things we have been told about this project which have turned out to be untrue. In the fall of 2019, BOS Chairman Chris Butler stated that this project is not a done deal "until the contracts are awarded."
The proposed Marshall Main Street project has been in the works Some of those opposed to the project hold up signs at the corner of Main Street and Rectortown Road in Marshall.
TIMES STAFF PHOTOS/ ROBIN EARL
Marshall civic group protests against Main Street project
About 30 interested individuals stopped by a demonstration/walk sponsored by the Marshall Business & Residents Association on Saturday morning. President Mary Wilkerson and Mary-Elizabeth Wilkerson, secretary of the organization, took the opportunity to share their opposition to the Main Street improvements project approved by the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors. The MBRA maintains that the project is unnecessary, expensive and would impose an unfair tax on residents of Marshall’s special taxMary-Elizabeth Wilkerson talks with a local resident about the VDOT/ Fauquier County project. ing district. The Wilkersons said they are encouraging residents to appear at Citizen’s Time at the Aug. 13 supervisors meeting to press supervisors to abandon the project. Deputy County Administrator Erin Kozanecki said that that Marshall Main Street improvements project was bid out in late June, and the bidding process was closed Aug. 4. She said, “We are currently in the bid review process, which includes review by VDOT and the Federal Highway Administration. This process normally takes about 30 days, but we have noticed that
takeout food,” including Italian sausage, cheesesteaks, gyros, chicken pitas, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, French fries, corn dogs, funnel cakes, fried Oreos, candy apples, popcorn, cotton candy, freshsqueezed lemonade and more.
Find them at 16033 Ira Hoffman Lane, Culpeper, next to Lidl and across from Walmart. Part of the proceeds from these sales will go toward the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department.
In a news release, Jeff Bailey, life member with the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department, said “everyone was very saddened to have to cancel the 2020 fair, but under the circumstances, it was the only thing we could do.
“Everyone around us had alreadycanceled, including Fauquier, Orange and Madison counties. More recently both the Fredericksburg and Prince William County Fairs have been canceled; along with the State Fair of Virginia.”
“This is the next best thing that we can do for the community,” Bailey said in the news release.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
COVID has slowed down reviews at the state/federal level.” project has prevented Marshall from receiving VDOT's normal re-pavfor more than 10 years and has changed many times without public hearings. Now Chairwoman McDaniel has continued to be dismissive to those who oppose it, even though she received 128 form letters opposing the project signed by residents and businesses located mainly in the Special Lighting Tax District in Marshall, plus petitions with hundreds of signatures opposing the project. I feel that we have been ignored, misinformed and misled.
With this project, county taxpayers will then become responsible for maintenance of project's sidewalks, etc. It’s important to cancel this flawed bait-and-switch project now!
Year-after-year, this pending ing of our Main Street, repair of our sidewalks, and updating of our handicap ramps at no additional cost to taxpayers. Once the project is canceled, we can get on VDOT's schedule for just such improvements!
Come to the board of supervisors meetingthis Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Warren Green Building, 10 Hotel St., Warrenton, to speak at Citizens' Timestarting at 6:30 p.m. sharp and ask them to cancel the project now! More info can be found at: marshallva.org.
CONNIE JONES
Main Street business owner Marshall
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Mary Garland Lunsford is celebrating her
100 th Birthday on August 17, 2020.
Because of the coronavirus we will not be able to have the traditional birthday party. There will be a parade of cars passing in front of her home (3545 Cobbler Mountain Road, Delaplane, VA) at 11 AM on her birthday, Monday, August 17, 2020.
She walks with a cane, and is able to take care of herself.
She was born and grew up in Gordonsville, VA. On July 9,1938 she married James Richard Lunsford. He passed away in 1971. After working for the federal government for over 30 years, she retired.
While being very active in the Marshall Methodist Church and Cool Spring Church in Delaplane she held various positions and served on various committees. She served in the local and state Republican party for many years. When George H. W. Bush was running for president, she made a hat with a bush and a quail in it and wore it when she served as a delegate.
Throughout her life she has had a passion for helping people by taking care of children while their parents were working, people who were physically limited, and families who had someone who didn’t have long to live. - George Reed
Readers’ Choice 2020
LAST CHANCE to vote for the best of Fauquier!
Our 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards contest is underway and voting will close in a week. It’s time to vote for your favorite local businesses and people to be recognized as Fauquier Times Readers’ Choice Award winners. Your voice matters. Nominate your favorite places, personalities, businesses and organizations in more than 100 categories and help them rise to the top.
Now through Aug. 19, you can vote online at:
www.Fauquier.com
At the end of the nomination period, the candidates with the most votes will win. Only one business in each category will be named the Readers’ Choice.
The Fauquier Times Readers’ Choice Awards are decided solely according to the votes of our readers. It’s your turn to vote and promote your favorite local people and businesses in Fauquier County.
The winners in each category will be announced in our newspaper and online on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
