Q: Does a retired senator have to pay taxes?
A: Senators who are retired from national or state positions or are currently in office are required to pay taxes.
Members of Congress did not pay taxes to Social Security before 1984, when they were not eligible for Social Security benefits but covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Amendments to the Social Security Act required all U.S. senators and representatives to participate in Social Security, effective Jan. 1, 1984.
Q: Per polling data, what percentages of Americans and Canadians are satisfied with their current health care system?
A: Thirty-five percent of Americans (2,500 were surveyed) are very confident they receive quality and safe care, 33 percent are very confident they receive the most effective drugs, and 38 percent are very confident they receive the best medical technology, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based private foundation that publishes research on health care issues.
That's compared with 26 percent of Canadians (3,000 were surveyed) very confident they will get quality and safe care, 32 percent very confident they receive the most effective drugs and 28 percent very confident they receive the best medical technology.
Q: Regarding the F-22, since the major contributors to the parts come from California and Texas, exactly what proportion of the cost of the plane is generated by the Marietta, Ga., facility?
A: There are 1,000 suppliers in 44 states, but F-22 assembly takes place in four locations, said Rob Fuller, a spokesman with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Marietta. He did not have cost data available.
The engines are built by Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut; the wings and aft fuselage are constructed by Boeing in Seattle; the mid fuselage is built by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas; and building the forward fuselage, along with final assembly, takes place in Marietta.
Q: With the possibility of Lake Lanier becoming off limits for a metro Atlanta water source, what is happening with the effort to relocate the northern border of Georgia to include a portion of the Tennessee River as called for in the original survey documents?
A: A Senate resolution signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue in May 2008 called for a survey of Georgia's northern border with Tennessee, directed the governor to negotiate with Tennessee officials over a joint survey and authorized litigation should Tennessee refuse to negotiate.
Federal and state laws define Georgia's northern border as the 35th parallel. The resolution does not move the border, but "simply calls for it be accurately marked, " said Sen. David Shafer, a metro Atlanta Republican who sponsored the resolution.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said the governor has reached out to Tennessee officials to inform them about the resolution and some legal research has been conducted.
The Tennessee River dips below the 35th parallel into Dade County, and 6 percent of its water originates in Georgia creeks and streams, giving Georgia a claim to the water, Shafer said. Most of the disputed area below the 35th parallel is owned either by the National Forest Service or Tennessee Valley Authority, but some of the area is populated.
Georgia could give Tennessee the populated areas without jeopardizing its riparian rights, but any land transfer would require an interstate compact and approval of Congress, Shafer said.
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