Budget Battles

Happy Birthday, Social Security!

Quote of the Day: Time to Raise Taxes?

Surprise Medical Bills Even for Patients with Insurance

Starting in June, the newly unemployed aren't eligible to get a federal subsidy for health care, while the proposal to extend subsidies to those laid off through the end of the year is languishing in Congress.

States Push Back Against Short-Term Health Care Plans

Newsletter

  • Quote of the Day: When Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves

    “You … often hear the claim that a lot of tax cuts will ‘pay for themselves,’ that they’ll cause so much additional economic activity that the revenue feedback from that activity will fully offset...

  • Are Tax Revenues Really Rising?

    A Wall Street Journal editorial this past weekend took aim at the idea that the Republican tax cuts have much to do with rising deficits. “Perhaps you’ve read that the federal budget deficit is...

  • A man walks his dog past a mural depicting factory workers in the historic Pullman neighborhood in Chicago November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Andrew Nelles/File Photo

    Economic Growth Gets a Downgrade

    The Congressional Budget Office reduced its estimate for the growth rate of the U.S. economy in 2018 to 3.1 percent, down from its estimate of 3.3. percent in April. The CBO’s estimate for 2019...

  • FBI director says all surveillance complies with U.S. law

    The Tax Cuts Aren't Popular, So the GOP Is Talking About This Instead

    Republicans have found that their key legislative accomplishment in the last two years, the tax cuts passed in December, aren’t nearly as popular as they had hoped they would be, and the AP reports...

  • Saving $1.11 a gallon might not sound like much. But if you're filling up a 20 gallon tank, you could save $22. Do that once a week and you'd save $1,150 a year.

    Map of the Day: Gas Taxes

    It’s summertime and the driving is anything but easy if you want to get to your favorite beach or mountain cabin for a well-deserved break. As lawmakers consider a plan to raise federal fuel taxes by...

  • Netflix adds 2.3 million U.S. subscribers in fourth-quarter; shares surge

    Subscriptions for Prescriptions? A New Way to Reduce Drug Prices

    Louisiana officials are proposing a Netflix-like subscription plan for certain prescription drugs, in which the state would gain access to unlimited treatments for hepatis C for its Medicaid and...

  • Health Care Industry Gears Up to Fight ‘Medicare for All’

    In anticipation of a “blue wave” election that brings more Democrats to Congress, the insurance and drug industries are gearing up to push back on the idea of a single-payer health care system. The...