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Forsyth County News
P.O. Box 210 • Cumming, Ga. 30028
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Time to defend nation’s dignity not Senate
A lot of very serious people are
worried silly about the dignity of
the U.S. Senate. Inside the beltway
' of the nation's capital and the virtu
al beltway of wall-to-wall newschat
cable shows, people are talking and
talking and talking and talking
about preserving the Senate’s pre
cious and presumably oh-so-fragile
dignity.
Such concern begins with the
prospect of witnesses being
released in the Senate chamber to
testify in the impeachment trial of
President Clinton. Senators and
opinion heads from both parties are
fretting about the sort of intimate
details that might, in the throes of
sworn testimony, escape the lips of
former presidential sex toy Monica
Lewinsky. Or former Lewinsky
confidant Linda Tripp. Or any num
ber of other people with direct
knowledge of the case.
Worrying loudly about the dignity
of the Senate is away for partisan
Democrats and faint-hearted
Republicans to argue, none-too
subtly, that members of the upper
chamber should avoid calling wit
desses and, thus, side-step the
uncomfortable circus witnesses
would, it is said, inevitably create.
Howling about the Senate’s digni-
Making the necessary arrangements
<The death of a family member or
close friend is a difficult subject for
almost everyone. Unfortunately,
when it comes, survivors are expect
ed to make many crucial financial
land legal decisions—some that seem
.overwhelming. Here’s what to do.
Contact a ftmeral director
I Following the death of a loved one,
usually rely upon the funer
al director for guidance. It's impor
tant he/she is involved immediately
because he/she can begin helping
-you make arrangements for funeral
services and burials.
Contact your
Hfe insurance agent
Contact the deceased’s life insur
ance agent. Usually, life insurance
companies require only two forms to
establish proof of claim: a claimant’s
statement and a death certificate or
attending physician’s statement. The
claimant’s statement must be com
pleted by the beneficiary.
If you’re the beneficiary, you’ll be
facing decisions about how to move
forward with money matters.
Unfortunately, this comes at a time
' when you may not be prepared to
make sound financial decisions, lb
add to the burden, the amount of
money involved may be large. For
this reason, many companies offer
an interest-bearing iponey market
type account that allows you to write
checks against your benefit proceeds
the same day you receive your
checkbook. This provides immediate
access to, and complete control of,
your proceeds while they earn a
Competitive rate of interest and a
guarantee of principal by the insurer,
h gives you time to evaluate your
changed financial situation and talk
things over with trusted advisors.
When a loved one dies, you should
aopk legal advice on such matters as
re-recording property deeds and the
dispositions of stocks, bonds and
r . i
ty is also away to attack the
impeachment process in the House
of Representatives, painting the
actions of the lower chamber as
loud, rancorous and partisan - any
thing but dignified. The Senate
should, it is argued, move forward
in a spirit of bipartisanship, with
Republicans rolling over for each
and every Democratic demand.
Talk about dignity. Clinton’s
libido rages out of control. As presi
dent, he kisses and gropes a sup
porter who comes to the White
House looking for job assistance.
As governor, he exposes himself to
a low-level state worker in an
Arkansas hotel room, bidding her to
gratify him. This week, Clinton
paid $850,000 to settle the resulting
sexual harassment case.
Talk about dignity. The president
drops his drawers in the Oval
Office. He receives oral sex from an
intern. He has repeated sexual
encounters with the intern in the
White House. He calls the intern for
phone sex in the middle of the
night. He buys the intern souvenir
trinkets when he travels.
Talk about dignity. The president
lies to his entire administration. He
takes particular advantage of his
department secretaries, dispatching
Timothy I
Eckel
savings. Also, the disbursement of
the insured’s business and estate
assets and the drawing up of a will
for the widow or widower will
require immediate attention.
Locate important papers
Think about safe-deposit boxes,
business agreements, bankbooks and
securities certificates; real estate
deeds; wills; recent copies of income
tax return forms, W-2 card and other
records of earning; Social Security
card; marriage and birth certificates;
military discharge papers, Veterans
Administration claim number, auto
mobile registration; and installment
payment books.
The death certificate is the basic
document you’ll be working with.
You’ll need a number of copies so
you can establish claims under life
insurance policies and file for Social
Security and Veterans benefits. In
many cases, the funeral director can
secure certified copies.
VHt trust officer and tax attorney
A local trust officer is an important
resource for survivors. This individ
ual should be an expert financial
advisor who deals in investments,
estate settlements and household
finances. A tax attorney or CPA
should be consulted if you think the
deceased’s estate might be subject to
federal taxation.
Contact employer
Be sure to immediately contact the
deceased’s place of employment.
Since many people are covered by
employee group insurance, inquire
about the benefit due you and how to
file a claim. Also, ask about pension
fond benefits, accrued vacation and
wjT
Jj-*, wlk I ait /'/
them to face the TV cameras early
last year and assure the public that
the president was being wrongly
accused. And, yet, when Clinton’s
deception is revealed, only one high
- level aide - spokesman Mike
McCurry - has the personal honor
to leave the president’s service.
Talk about dignity. House
Democrats relentlessly criticize
Clinton’s behavior. They demand a
censure vote, a chance to denounce
the president’s actions on the
record. Then, minutes after Clinton
is impeached, the same Democratic
lawmakers converge en masse on
the White House, bowing and
scraping before the same president
at a post-vote pep rally.
Talk about dignity. This week,
Clinton’s most visible defender is
professional pornographer Larry
Flynt. What does it say about the
president when the publisher of
Hustler magazine replaces James
Carville as First Attack Dog? What
does it say about the president’s
party when Democrats in Congress
and across the country fail to repu
diate roundly Flynt’s vile tactics
and sewer-dwelling character?
And, yet, in Washington, the talk
is not about the lost dignity of the
president, the lost dignity of his
sick pay, terminal pay allowances,
disability income and credit union
balances.
Gather all current bills
Many installment loans, service
contracts and credit card accounts
are covered by credit life insurance
that pays off the account balance in
the event of the death of a customer.
Make a prompt request for release to
each bank that the deceased and you
held a joint account. This is prelimi
nary to your withdrawing funds
from that account. Property casualty
insurance policies should be updated
to redirect changes in ownership.
Contact organizations
Contact unions, service organiza
tions or professional organizations
the deceased belonged to, to find out
whether you are eligible for any ben
efits.
Contact social security office
If the deceased was covered under
Social Security, you may be eligible
for a lump-sum death benefit It is
usually paid to a surviving spouse,
but it can be paid to others under cer
tain circumstances., •
Prevention is the best medidne
Since no one can predict the future,
it’s always a good idea to have your
affairs in order. The best time to con
tact a lawyer and make a will is now.
Also, your insurance agent can help
settle any potential insurance claims
and provide information on educa
tion and retirement funding. An
insurance agent can also assist you
in conserving your estate.
For more information on how
you can avoid these situations,
write to Timothy M. Eckel in care
of the Forsyth County News, P.O.
Box 210, Cumming, Ga. 30028.
Timothy M. Eckel is an agent
with New York Life Insurance
Company.
(404)459-2098
Fax: (404)459-0383
www.newyorkltfe.com
administration, the lost dignity of
his congressional apologists, the
lost dignity of his party. No, all the
talk is about defending the dignity
of the Senate against the phantom
threat of witnesses.
Senators would do well to reject
this argument. Witnesses would not
turn the impeachment trial into an
out-of-control daytime scandal
show, with Chief Justice William
Rehnquist picking up Jerry
Springer’s microphone. A titillating
spectacle would not serve anyone -
not the Senate, not House prosecu
tors, not the chief justice. It just
isn’t going to happen.
Moreover, the Senate should
worry less about its own dignity and
more about the dignity of the
nation. An ill-considered refusal to
hear witnesses would allow the
womens
—I
They’re professional, knowledgeable, dedicated to our
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' FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, January 15.1999
president’s brazen, multi-front
assault on the nation’s honor to go
laigely unchallenged. It would like
ly ravage the Senate’s reputation,
not preserve it.
The Senate, after all, has a consti
tutional obligation to conduct a seri
ous impeachment trial, and no such
trial can be conducted in the
absence of witnesses. If it stands for
anything, the Senate must stand up
straight and tall for the Constitution
and the rule of law. /
Reading dead transcripts of grand
jury testimony just isn’t enough.
Senate jurors - and the people they
serve - deserve to hear directly
from those whose testimony has
brought us to the brink of removing
a president. And they deserve to
hear those witnesses cross-exam
ined by the president’s defense
Luther vIW
Boggs Jr.
I I
team.
To be sure, what the Senate needs
are men and women of character 1 ,
stature and, yes, dignity. Back In
August, one such former
Democratic senator urged Clinton
to “lead by putting the codhtry’s
interest first.” The president, said
Georgia’s Sam Nunri, should con
sider resigning. For the sake of the
nation and a once-great party
brought low by scandal, more
Democratic senators should follow
Nunn’s honorable example.
Luther M. Boggs Jr. is an area
speech writer and a regular con
tributing columnist to the Forsyth
County News. His column appears
on Fridays.
PAGE 7A