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TODAY'S
ISSUE
CCCS advises: Do not
ignore Uncle Sam at tax time!
By Todd Mark
Special to GwinnettForum.com
ATLANTA, Ga., March 12, 2004 -- Tax day, April 15, is about a month
away and many Georgians will be facing a tax bill they cannot afford.
For Tax Year 2001, 673,736 Georgia taxpayers owed additional taxes
at the time of filing, with an average payment of $384 for a total
of $259,022,000.
Suzanne Boas, president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS)
of Greater Atlanta, says: "Taxpayers are often caught by surprise
when their taxes are calculated and they end up owing Uncle Sam.
For those persons worried about how they will pay, the worst mistake
they can make is to ignore the situation and fail to file their
taxes."
If you consistently owe Uncle Sam taxes, consider lowering your
withholding. You may need to have your employer take additional
money out of your paycheck in taxes if you are already claiming
zero on your W4.
CCCS offers the following tips for those who will owe taxes this
year:
Ignoring will not make it go away. Failing to file will only worsen
the problem. The IRS may not discover that you have not filed or
paid your 2003 taxes for quite some time. However, the interest
and penalties are still adding up and you will eventually have to
pay what you owe. The IRS is very persistent about collecting overdue
taxes.
Knowing the score prevents surprises. W2 forms and 1099s are required
to be postmarked by Jan. 31 so you should have yours. Find it and
calculate your taxes now to determine if you will owe additional
money. Don't put it off. The sooner you know how much your payment
will be the more options you will have to come up with the money.
Save to avoid borrowing. If possible, begin saving now for your
tax payment. Take a good look at your monthly expenses and trim
wherever possible. A good place to start is with food and entertainment
spending. Saving as little as $50 a month will help. The more you
save, the less you will have to borrow.
Borrow only if you must. Explore all your alternatives before deciding
how to finance your tax payment. Options include a bank loan, IRS
installment plan or IRS-approved credit card. Choose the alternative
with the best interest rate and try to pay off the balance as quickly
as possible.
Pay by the deadline. Filing an extension in order to buy some time
for sending in your tax return does not give you extra time to pay
what you owe. If your payment is not mailed by the April 15 deadline,
you will be assessed interest and penalties on the amount owed.
About CCCS: Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) is a nonprofit,
community service agency dedicated to empowering consumers to achieve
a lifetime of economic freedom. A United Way partner, CCCS provides
free, confidential budget counseling by certified counselors. CCCS
also provides community and personal money management education,
debt management programs, and comprehensive housing counseling.
CCCS offers around the-clock help by phone at 866-330-CCCS or at
its Web site, www.cccsinc.org.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Legislative
posturing will remind us of Shakespeare
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 12, 2004 -- Here we go again.
It appears that history is about to repeat itself.
 Remember
years ago when the various Southern states were sandbagging efforts
by the U.S. Government to eliminate segregated schools? In some
cases, the states would not do what they should, that is, make changes
to the state law to comply with federal statures. Instead, the states
allowed the federal courts to provide the protection needed, and
bring about change in the school systems of the South.
The upshot after the Court action: the state authorities would
rail against the "dictates" of the Federal Courts, implying
that the courts were imposing outlandish regulations on the people.
In effect, of course, we now realize that the courts were providing
"just" rules which the several states would not do.
But boy-o-boy, could the legislative segregationists evermore cry
"foul" against the court! Essentially, the states should
have done the job themselves.
Today in Georgia, we are apparently moving toward another incident
where the legislators will scream "Foul" and "Interference"
on the current Georgia legislative reapportionment question, in
the absence of the state doing a fair job of reapportioning the
state's legislative districts.
A three judge panel of the Federal courts has given the State of
Georgia until Monday, March 15, to come up with the fairly-apportioned
legislative districts. This comes, mind you, while the Legislature
is sitting in session. All the Legislature has to do is agree among
themselves on new district lines. Apparently, they cannot, or will
not, do this. It may be another case of political stand-off by the
two parties, or it may be a case of legislative malfeasance.
Can't you hear the political yelling and screaming when the Federal
Court comes in with its own map for legislative lines? "Horrible!"
"A poorly-drawn map." "Courts should not impose itself,"
the legislators will scream.
Meanwhile, the people should be yelling at the Legislators: "Why
didn't you do the job yourself? Isn't government closest to the
people the best government?"
Special master working to resolve the legislative maps is a distinguished
former chief judge of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Joe Hatchett
of Tallahassee. A former magistrate and former Florida Supreme Court
jurist, he is black, and was appointed by the Clinton Administration
to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, the State of Georgia has missed a court-imposed deadline
on submitting its own plan for re-districting. Even going a step
further, the Federal Court has said that if, in the meantime, the
State comes up with a plan, even though it missed its deadline,
that the Federal bench will consider it. So far, the Courts have
heard nothing from the Legislature.
Come Monday, the Federal Courts will bring forth its plan for re-districting
Georgia, in plenty of time not to interfere with the dates and timetable
for qualifying for the upcoming election.
So on Monday, listen for the politicians, both Democratic and Republican,
go ballistic with taunts and jibes against the Court. It will be
as Shakespeare wrote, "It is a tale told by an idiot, full
of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Remember: it is pure posturing, for the Court will have done what
the Legislature should have.
ABOUT
OUR SPONSORS
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public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's featured sponsor is Gwinnett
Community Bank of Duluth, Member, FDIC. Tom Martin heads this
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near the intersection of Rogers Bridge and Old Peachtree Road. The
web site is http://www.gwinnettcommunitybank.com/defaultx.html.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD
3/12: Obesity study
Another great cartoon from Bill McLemore:
FEEDBACK
3/12: Says 2000
Nader funding came out of Republican Party
Editor, the Forum:
It looks as though Ralph Nader is pulling the same stunt that
he did in 2000. At that time, Associated Press Writer Laura
Meckler noted in the Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 edition of the Washington
Post that The Republican Leadership Council was funding the
Nader campaign by launching TV ads in Wisconsin, Oregon and
Washington, showing a speech made by Nader which was critical
of Bush and Gore - but only airing the segments that were critical
of Gore. This was done in a deliberate attempt to siphon off
Gore votes in states that were favorable to Nader. Nader must
surely be aware of what happened in 2000, so why is he attempting
another run? What is his true motivation? Does he really want
to be funded by Republicans again, in order to ensure another
four years of Bush?
-- Walter Maloney, Los Angeles, Calif.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
3/12: Loss of Vanderbilt
influence led to Emory in Atlanta
As spiritual advisor to his brother Asa Candler, founder of
the Coca-Cola Company, Warren Akin Candler (1857-1941), encouraged
Asa's support of church causes.
The most notable of these was the creation of the Emory University
campus in Atlanta. This came about when Bishop Candler and some
of his fellow churchmen, who served on the board of trustees
of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, lost influence
over that institution. After an unsuccessful 1910 lawsuit to
regain their authority, the Southern Methodists decided to establish
two new educational institutions under their control. The first
was Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas; the second
was to be located somewhere east of the Mississippi River.
The Candler brothers combined their influence and resources
to win this role for Emory College. Asa Candler wrote a check
for $1 million to defray expenses of moving Emory's headquarters
from Oxford to acreage he donated in his Druid Hills development
in the eastern suburbs of Atlanta. Warren Candler had attended
Emory College in Oxford, Georgia, from 1874 to 1877. He was
the tenth president and the first chancellor of Emory University.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
It's not what you
say, but after all, what you do
"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."
-- Henry Ford, submitted by Roy McCreary, Dacula.
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