Budget Battles
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Biden and McCarthy Dive Into Debt Talks
The debt ceiling dance has begun. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met at the White House for more than an hour on Wednesday, as the two set out on talks about raising the...
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US Health Care System: High Cost, Poor Performance
By The Fiscal Times StaffYou may already know this sad fact about US health care: We spend more than any other high-income country but get worse outcomes. That shocking truth is no longer surprising, but a new report by The...
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US Covid Emergency to End in May
By Michael RaineyPresident Joe Biden plans to end the emergency federal response to Covid-19 on May 11, the White House told Congress Monday evening, as public health officials shift toward treating the viral...
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Round 1 in the Debt Limit Fight
The slowly unfolding fight over the debt limit and federal spending will inch forward on Wednesday as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meet, their first such sit-down since...
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GOP Senators Demand Fiscal Reforms in Exchange for Raising Debt Ceiling
By Michael RaineyIn a letter to President Joe Biden, nearly half of the Republicans in the Senate declared they any effort to increase the debt ceiling must include structural reforms in federal spending. “We, the...
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Wall Street Sending Mixed Signals on Debt Ceiling Showdown
By Michael RaineyTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that a default on U.S. debt obligations could spark a “global financial crisis,” but some experts aren’t so sure it would come down to that. According to...
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McCarthy Agrees Not to Cut Social Security, Medicare in Debt Talks, Manchin Says
By Michael RaineyDemocratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia centrist, played a key role in an evenly divided Senate over the last two years. Democrats may have gained a seat in the Senate, but Manchin appears to...
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Column of the Day: Republicans Have No Viable Plan to Balance the Budget
By Michael RaineyLed by newly empowered firebrands, Republicans in the House are working on a plan to slash spending and balance the federal budget within 10 years. According to The Washington Post’s Catherine...
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Will Biden Ultimately Negotiate on the Debt Limit?
Will they or won’t they? The White House insists that raising the debt limit is the responsibility of Congress and that it won’t negotiate with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Republicans who...
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New $2.5 Billion Aid Package for Ukraine Includes Armored Combat Vehicles
By Michael RaineyThe U.S. is sending another $2.5 billion worth of military equipment and supplies to Ukraine, the State Department announced Thursday. “Pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, I am...
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US Life Expectancy Falls to Two-Decade Low
By Michael RaineyWith the country battered by Covid-19 and an ongoing drug overdose epidemic, average life expectancy in the United States fell to 76.4 years last year, according to data released by the Centers for...
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Senators Scramble to Finish $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill
The Senate is reportedly running into some obstacles as it looks to pass the $1.66 trillion omnibus spending package as soon as tonight . Current federal funding expires at midnight Friday, and a...
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US Postal Service Plans to Electrify Fleet
By Michael RaineyThe U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it plans to purchase 66,000 electric vehicles for its delivery fleet as part of $9.6 billion modernization effort over the next five years. The new plan...
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Another $1.85 Billion in Military Aid for Ukraine
By Michael RaineyAhead of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with U.S. leaders and speech to Congress Wednesday evening, the Biden administration announced a new, $1.85 billion military aid package for Ukraine...
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Huge Spending Package Again Exposes Huge GOP Divides
The omnibus bill introduced Tuesday represents the final piece of two top appropriators’ legacies. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations...