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The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thursday, March 30, 1967—PAGE 7 Vietnam vets would get benefits Two bills which would grant full benefits to veterans of the Viet Nam Conflict and increase pensions for disabled veterans already on Veterans Adminis tration rolls received support today from the Administrator of Veteran Affairs. William J. Driver appeared before the Subcommittee on Compensation and pension of the Veterans Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives to urge passage of the legislation. Theproposed legislation, H. R. 4786 and H. R. 4788, in troduced by Committee Chair man Olin Teague, (D-Tex.), incorporate the recommend ations of president Johnson’s message to Congress on Jan uary 31, concerning veterans’ benefits. Driver told the Subcommittee , “I consider these measures to be extremely important and worthwhile, and I urge their early and favorable consider ation." H. R. 4788, the Viet Nam Conflict Servicemen’s Benefits Act of 1967, provides benefits to all veterans who have served since August 5, 1964, on the same basis as veterans from World Wars I and II and the Korean Conflict. Commenting on President Johnson’s message Driver said, “The enactment of H. R. 4786 would eliminate all distinctions, insofar as eligi bility to receive veterans’ benefits administered by the Veterans Administration is concerned, between veterans of the Viet Nam Conflict and those who served during the Korean Conflict and other periods of war.” The bill would extend to disability compensation at war time rates, (2) disability pensions for nonservice-connect ed veterans and death pensions for widows and chil^ en, (3) extension of VA med il bene fits, (4) a burial flag, v 5) $250 burial allowance, and (6) $1600 toward the purchase of an automobile by certain disabled veterans. Driver said the first year cost would be approximately $10 million which would in crease to approximately $22.5 million by the fifth year. The other bill receiving sup port from Administrator Driver is H. R. 4788,which relates to the current non- servioei-connected disability and death pension program. It calls for a 5.4 percent increase in these pensions and was estimated by Driver to affect 1.4 million veterans, widows, and dependents. The bill also provides that retirement bene fits and social security bene fit increases would not be counted for income purposes in determining eligibility for these pensions. Driver estimated the cost of the pension increase at $82.3 million the first year, decreas ing to $80.3 million by the fifth year. Georgia jobs for students Six Flags Over Georgia, At lanta’s new $12 million family amusement center scheduled to open in mid-June, today an nounced special Personnel De partment procedures for spring vacationing college students who wish to apply for summer employment at the park. No appointments are neces sary. Members of the Six Flag personnel staff will be on hand to meet applicants at all times from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday effective im mediately, according to the announcement by Errol McKoy the park’s director of person nel. Six Flags Over Georgia has some 1,200 summer employ- — Canadian. Wildlife Flock To Expo 67 Ducks and geese and swans will come a-flocking when EXPO 67 opens in Montreal this April. Wildlife from every region of Canada will find a home at Notre Dame Park—a tranquil cross section of Cana dian countryside in the midst water — Regatta Lake - where of the bustling fair. races and displays will take Nestled on 40 acres of land place. The park itself, located reclaimed from the St. Law- on the southern tip of He Notre rence River, the magnificent Dame, curves in a “V" around man-made park will provide a natural sanctuary for beauti ful black and gray Canadian geese, mute swans, mallard ducks, and white-tailed deer. More than 60,000 trees and shrubs and over 100,000 wild and cultivated flowers will be planted along with thousands of square yards of Canadian grown Merion sod to provide this oasis of greenery. The Merion turf was especially se lected for the park because of the fringes of this crystal lake. Tranquil countryside, beau- its ability to withstand the tiful wildlife, and shimmering roughest wear and tear and weather. water—a vision of nature that will make for one of the most Adding to the scene will be gloriously colorful sights at a large body of sparkling blue EXPO 67. THE M ANION FORUM By MARILYN M ANION ARE WE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY? The war in Vietnam is prov ing, among other things, to be very expensive. In terms of American lives and money the expense is over whelming. As billions of dol lars are poured into the war effort; as hundreds of thous ands of boys are recruited, trained, wounded and killed, the prospect that the conflict may drag on for 20 years or more is a grisly one. But there is little hope that the war will end in the immed iate future. For one thing, of course, the United States has not made up its mind to ach ieve total victory. For another, our enemy is not limited to the men fighting against us on As ian battlefields. The Vietnam conflict is> after all, only a part of the world-wide Communist plan. And Soviet , Russia is playing a larger role in Viet nam than many people would like to admit. The Russians are spending nearly a billion dollars a year to help North Vietnam. Soviet weapons, aircraft, oil, gasoline, and even personnel have been exported to North Vietnam. Supplies from the East Euro- ment opportunities for college students or 1867 high school graduates, McKoy said. No job will be filled until all ap plications are processed. Job training at the park is plann ed to begin after the close of the school year. McKoy urged interested stu dents to come in person to the personnel office in the park grounds'. Six Flags Over Georgia is located 10 minutes’ drive from downton Atlanta on Interstate 20 and is reached via the “Six Flags Road” exit just past the Chattahoochee River bridge. pean satelite nations pour into the Haiphong harbor along with Russian goods. The Soviets are able to ac complish three important things by this investment in the war. They are keeping the United States involved in a prolonged conflict by enabling the enemy to be well-equipped. Thus, they are able to divert U. S. time and money away from the all- important nuclear race. And finally, they are specifically aiding the Communist cause in Asia. There is nothing particularly secret about the Russian sub sidization of Hanoi. Washing ton must be ctelearly aware of the fact. That is why our cur rent policy toward the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe is rather difficult to understand. President Johnson has prom ised to continue the policy of trade and friendship between our government and the Com munist regime of the U.S.S.R. and its sattelites. The theory behind this is that we can “convert” the Red world to capitalism through trade. The theory has never worked, ex cept in reverse. By bailing the Red governments out of their economic difficulties, we have postponed the day when they would have to reform their economic systems. Dr. Brutus Coste, a Ruman ian exile currently with the University of Pennsylvania Foreign Policy Research Insti tute, put it this way when he spoke over the Manion Forum a few months ago. “ To the extent which the Communist governments are assisted to solve their prob lems, they will be reluctant t - * undertake changes that would decrease the power of the government. To the extent that ”Ou relieve them from the pressure of necessity, you do not work for revolution. On the contrary, you help the Communists maintain the rigid totalitarian system that they are carrying out now.” It would appear that our “bridge-building” policy to wards Communist Eastern Eu rope is tightening, rather than loosening the Reds’ hold over Income Tax Information Q.—Does the President’s tax proposal have any 'effect on the return I hav*. to make for 1966 income? A.—No, the proposal does not concern 1966 income. Q.—What figure on my W-2 should I report as income? A.—In most cases it is the amount identified as “wages paid subject to withholding in 1966.” If there is also a fig ure in the space identified as “ other compensation paid in 1966,” then the two figures must be added and the total re- jorted on your return as in come from that employer. Don’t forget that if you had more than one employer in 1966 a W-2 is required for each job. Q.—A neighbor of mine had some hard luck last year and I paid a few of his bills. Can I deduct this on my income re turn ? A.—Although your actions were humanitarian, the law does not consider gifts to in dividuals as tax-deductible con tributions. Q.—If I file a separate re turn can I claim my wife as a dependent? She doesn’t earn enough to support herself. A.—No. The law does noi; permit one spouse to claim the other as a dependent. You may claim an exemption for your wife as she had no gross income and was not the de pendent of another taxpayer. Q.—You billed me for taxes I just paid. Why? A.—Your payment could have become separated from your return or the payment might have arrived after the date it was due. To clear this up, write the office which sent you the bill and give them full details on your payment (date, amount, purpose, .etc;.). Be sure to give your social security num ber and to print your name when you write. It’s a good practice when making a tax payment to write your social security number, as well as your name, legibly on the check or money order. Q.—What can you deduct for medical expenses? Is it the full amount of the expense or just what we have paid so far? A.—Only the amount you actually paid last year should be used as the basis for figur ing your medical expense de duction. Remember to deduct from that total whatever re imbursement, insurance, etc., you received for these expen ses. Medical expenses which ex ceed 3 per cent of your adjust ed gross income will be de ductible. However, only medi cine and drugs over 1 percent of your adjusted gross income ?an be included as a part of those medical expenses. If you or your wife are 65 or over, these limitations do not apply to either of you for the year 1966. Q.—Our daughter graduated from college last fall and has been working for some months. Since she still lives at home with us can we claim her as a dependent? A.—It depends on several factors. To be eligible to claim her as a dependent you must have provided more than half of her support for the year. However, if she earned more than $600 during the year she must either be under 19 at the end of the year or a full-time student for some part of each of five months for her to still qualify as a dependent. the people. In addition, we are helping our enemy arm itself with the supplies it needs to fight us. This is curious be havior indeed—and the Amer ican people merit an explana tion from their President. Help offered in completing Medicare forms Missing signatures and ad dresses are two frequent prob lems that Blue Cross - Blue Shield has run into in process ing doctor bill request for payment forms from medicare beneficiaries, Miss Martha Pressly, social security District Manager in Greenwood said today. Representatives of Blue Cross Blue Shield, the carrier for medicare doctor bill payments in South Carolina area, have reported that some beneficiar ies have received repayment for doctor bills later than was necessary because they forgot to sign their forms or to in clude their addresses. The signature on the request for payment form authorizes the carrier to pay the claim. Blue Cross-Blue Shield doesn’t know where to send the check, and the only way to get it is to write back to the doctors, who are sometimes reluctant to give out their patients’ ad dresses.” Miss Pressly noted that there are two ways to get payment for doctor bills under medicare and that under the first method thedoctor agrees to make the claim to the medicare carrier. But when the other method is used, the beneficiary pays the doctor bill and sends the claim to the carrier. “Beneficiaries sending in their own request for payment forms should be especially careful to give all informa tion called for, including their address, medicare identifica tion number, and their signa ture,” Miss Pressly said. “Also the beneficiary should either have his doctor complete the second part of the request for payment or enclose an item ized receipted bill before send ing in his claim.” “Because Blue Cross - Blue Shield has reported some prob lems with claims from this area,” Miss Pressly said, “we are suggesting that beneficiar ies making their first claim bring the forms and receipts to the social security office. By letting us check the request for payment forms before they are sent to the medicare car rier, the beneficiary can be sure that this claim won’t be delayed because some item been left off.” Miss Pressly said that per sons unable to come to the office at Grenewood can mail in their forms. People who mail in their forms should indicate their telephone number so that they can be contacted if ad ditional information is needed. Q.—Is my wife’s social se curity number required on a joint return? Practically all of our income comes from my sal ary. A.—In some cases your wifes social security number would not be required on your joint return. Her number would be required, however, if any of the following are met: 1— She had no wages subject to withholding. 2— She had income subject to self-employment tax. 3— She had separate income from dividends or interest of $10 or more. If any of these conditions apply, a joint return without her social security number will hold up the processing of the return. You will then have to be contacted to obtain the mis sing information. This natur ally delays processing and the issuance of any refund you have coming. Q.—My husband and I have separated. Who is entitled to claim the children as depend ents? A.—The children may be claimed as dependents by the person who provides more than half their support during the taxable year.