{"id":540,"date":"2025-03-29T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/?p=540"},"modified":"2025-04-03T21:09:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T21:09:47","slug":"letters-social-security-reliance-for-the-common-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/spanishliteratureintranslation.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/29\/letters-social-security-reliance-for-the-common-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Social Security reliance for the common people"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social Security reliance for the common people<\/h4>\n

Do you know anyone who lives on their Social Security checks without other income? If you don\u2019t, there are millions of elderly and disabled people who are depending on that check. Because I worked for a small community social service agency, I have seen the faces of those who absolutely depended on that check.<\/p>\n

Those retirees who do not depend on it to keep themselves off the street receive a check, having paid into the system since they began working at 18. Earned.<\/p>\n

I guess folks with a net worth of around $1.5 billion or so may have trouble grasping that fact. Howard Lutnick is our newly minted Secretary of Commerce. On the \u201cAll-In<\/a>\u201d podcast, he felt the need to offer his opinion even though Social Security is an independent agency.<\/p>\n

He commented that if his 94-year-old mother-in-law did not get her check one month, she would not complain. She would just imagine that something had gone wrong and she would get it the next month. And then he intimated that the only people who would complain were the fraudsters. Just an aside — \u00a0do you think that Lutnick could reach deep and help his mother-in-law out if she didn\u2019t get her check?<\/p>\n

It is disgusting that a cabinet secretary would call anyone who called about a missing check a likely criminal. It\u2019s shocking and frightening to see what is happening with the degrading of Social Security. In order to eventually privatize? Everyone should care and everyone should let Congress know how very much they care.<\/p>\n

Judith Pettibone, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n

Give senior homeowners a break<\/h4>\n

There has been talk in our state legislature<\/a> to make a change to the length of time one must reside in the home to qualify for the senior property tax exemption.<\/p>\n

Currently, seniors must reside in their home for at least 10 years to qualify. Many of these seniors want to downsize their homes, as their kids have grown up and moved out, and they do not need as much space.<\/p>\n

Seniors are being penalized for wanting to move to a smaller domicile.
\nWith the need for more family homes to be available for purchase, and young families who want to buy those homes, by allowing the seniors to retain their “senior exemption,” many seniors might be more willing to downsize.<\/p>\n

Can this be the year both parties put aside their differences and vote to make the change?<\/p>\n

At age 74, I can only hope.<\/p>\n

Mark Stahl, Hartsel<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ve made our bed<\/h4>\n

With Donald Trump\u2019s election victory last November, America pretty much made its bed, wouldn\u2019t you say? Personally, I am not happy about it, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the chants we hear for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others to resign over Signal Gate are premature. The cabinet members were just confirmed; we need stability, not more chaos.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face reality. Tariffs are going to happen. Right or wrong, Elon Musk will continue to force firings and other disruptions. But we voted for all of it, whether you accept it or not.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s take a deep breath, keep fighting for our beliefs, and maybe put a little more thought into that next trip to the voting booth.<\/p>\n

Gary Rauchenecker, Golden<\/em><\/p>\n

Strangers and paramedics to the rescue downtown<\/h4>\n

While leaving the exciting Sanders\/AOC rally, I was sitting on my walker while my husband pushed me down the sidewalk. We hit a bump, stopping the walker. I was dumped on the sidewalk and he fell atop me. The walker bent in half and was totaled. Passersby rushed to help us and we were very grateful. A moment later, Denver paramedics were by our side and were wonderful.<\/p>\n

We tried to call Uber but none were available. The paramedics stayed with us the whole time. We were resigned to walking but the paramedics arranged for a vehicle to take us to the light rail. At 80 years old and a bit shaken up, we again were grateful.<\/p>\n

The kindness of strangers and the professionalism and caring of the paramedics turned a bad fall into a heartwarming experience. Our faith in the goodness of people is restored.<\/p>\n

Jill Van de Water, Highlands Ranch<\/em><\/p>\n

Government, local and federal, must track its spending<\/h4>\n

Re: “Denver still isn’t tracking expenses, city auditor says<\/a>,” March 22 news story<\/p>\n

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston excuses his administration’s lack of proper accounting because, as the story reported, “many contracts and outside agencies.”<\/p>\n

That sounds like the cause of the problem, as we have seen in recent DOGE disclosures, on the federal level. Spreading gobs of money to non-government agencies and other outside players is begging for malfeasance.<\/p>\n

The question here is, who is making out on this deal?<\/p>\n

Jonathan Williams, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n