Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Best & Worst States for Military Retirees
• Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis
• 350,000 Venezuelans
• One More Thing

BEST & WORST STATES FOR MILITARY RETIREES:

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their ability to provide a comfortable military retirement. Their analysis uses a data set of 28 key metrics, ranging from veterans per capita to the number of VA health facilities to job opportunities for veterans.

Montana ranked #41. That is pretty bad. Montana was second in veterans per capita. Montana was 3rd in “VA Health Facilities per Number of Veterans” (Thanks to former U.S. Senators Conrad Burns and Jon Tester).

I saw on Turbo Tax that five states tax military retirement pay fully and offer little to no tax benefits for retirement income: California, Montana, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. (Source)

According to an article in Military.com:

Montana: Starting in the 2024 tax year, residents who work in Montana may deduct up to 50% of military retirement or survivor pay for up to the first five years of meeting the eligibility requirements. For retirees in general, up to $5,060 is exempt if gross income is less than $42,140 for the 2023 tax year. Starting in the 2024 tax year, taxpayers ages 65 and over will receive a $5,500 subtraction from their federal taxable income.

Montana should not tax military retirement pay, and Montana should not tax Social Security retirement. 

Check out the full report from WalletHub HERE.

BIDEN’S CANCER DIAGNOSIS:

After the past 24 hours of reading some of the comments about former President Joe Biden having been diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, I can honestly say the compassion in our country has gone down the toilet.  

The hatred toward Biden amazes me. Yesterday, I mentioned two posts on City Commissioner Rick Tryon’s personal Facebook page. They are still there with another one added that states, “He tried to kill us all, dying feeble and broken is too good for him.”

Now the conspiracy posts are taking over. President Donald Trump has joined in with the NY Times reporting: 

President Trump said Monday that he was surprised that Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s cancer diagnosis was not made public a “long time ago,” seeming to suggest without evidence that the former president’s cancer was not newly discovered and had been covered up. “There are things going on that the public wasn’t informed, and I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The President’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., made an ass out of himself writing on social media: “What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” 

Although he says he does, I guess Junior does not understand that Jill Biden has a PhD and she does not have a medical degree.

Rolling Stone already has a story posted about the MAGA attacks:

MAGA Responds to Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis With Mockery and Speculation

Read it HERE. 

There’s a pretty decent chance that someone you know will get cancer. It might even be you. I hope people are kinder to you and your loved ones than they have been to Joe Biden. 

Just be nice. 

350,000 VENEZUELANS:

The following is a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that MAGAs will love. 

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation.

It’s hard to determine if these people will be deported, but it sounds like it could happen. 

Reuters is reporting that the court left open the door to challenges by migrants if Trump’s administration tries to cancel work permits or other TPS-related documents that were issued to expire in October 2026, the end of the TPS period extended by Biden. The Department of Homeland Security has said about 348,202 Venezuelans were registered under Biden’s 2023 TPS designation.

ONE MORE THING:

If you take a social media break, don’t announce it. Just make your last post something fun like, “I wonder if there’s a bear in this cave?” (Facebook)

## END ##