Because a high percentage of taxpayers were affected by under-withholdings due to the problematic tax tables, the IRS allowed a waiver of penalties for both 2009 and 2010 tax years. But taxpayers have to request the waiver of penalties in order to receive it. According to the Treasury Inspector General, last year virtually no taxpayer surveyed knew they could request a waiver. .The cuts were buried in a "must pass" debt limit bill that provided essential funding for more than 60 million recipients of Social Security and other federal benefits. Even though the Social Security Trust Fund is the single largest government account which is holding government debt, legislation is required to ensure repayment of even the smallest fraction of the .8 trillion the government owes to the Social Security Trust Fund. .Last week House Appropriations Military Construction-VA Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) pushed a Department of Veterans Affairs official at a hearing to work on a plan to offer coronavirus vaccines to veterans even if they are not eligible for VA health care. .Lawmakers Adjourn for Recess .This doesn't mean you should completely rule out starting widow's benefits. Depending on your finances, you may be able to start a reduced widow's benefit now and later switch to your own retirement benefits after your reach full retirement age or later if it would be higher than what you are entitled to now. If your own retirement would not be higher, then starting survivor's benefits now would lock in a permanently lower benefit. .Richard "Rick" Delaney joined the United States Air Force in June of 196He served three tours of duty in Southeast Asia in 1966, 1969, and 1971 as well as two tours to Europe in Germany and England. He has been stationed in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Wyoming, California Georgia and South Dakota. .In January as my specialist told me goodbye, he gave me a 10-day prescription for a simple .16 antibiotic. Did I get better? Yes, at least for now. While the antibiotic treatment was inexpensive and seems effective at curing the cough, the CT scan and bronchoscopy he ordered last year cost about ,000 before insurance. Would I have done just as well getting that prescription from my primary care doctor and skipping all the rest? Maybe, but how does the patient make that judgment? .The Social Security Administration maintains an "earnings suspense file" which tracks wages sent in by employers, for earnings that cannot be posted to individual workers' records because there is no match for the name and Social Security number. The Congressional Research Service reports that wages represented in the earnings suspense file currently amount to approximately 0 billion. According to Social Security Administration Inspector Patrick P. O'Carroll, "We believe the chief cause of wage items being posted to the earnings suspense file instead of an individual's earning record is unauthorized work by noncitizens." .TSCL is calling on Congress to close this loophole, and endorses the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2007" (H.R. 736), introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA). The legislation would close the loophole by excluding earnings of any wages for unauthorized work.