Budget Battles
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Pandemic Legislation Will Boost GDP by 4.7% This Year: CBO
By Michael RaineyThe four major laws passed by Congress to address the coronavirus pandemic will boost real domestic gross product by 4.7% in 2020 and 3.1% in 2021, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. The “...
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Judge Orders Halt to Changes at US Postal Service
By Michael RaineyChief Judge Stanley A. Bastian of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on Thursday night granted a request to block operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service...
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A Tentative Deal to Avoid a Shutdown in October Appears to Fall Apart
By Michael RaineyUPDATE : The Washington Post's Erica Werner is reporting that the tentative deal has fallen apart: "A possible deal on a stopgap spending bill to avert a pre-election government shutdown looked...
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Congress Still Doesn’t Have a Deal on Stopgap Spending Bill
Congress has just two major items on its agenda before the November elections: That stalled coronavirus relief deal and a must-pass stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown after...
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Pelosi Doubles Down on Demand for $2.2 Trillion in Coronavirus Relief
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated Thursday that Democrats will keep pressing for a coronavirus relief package of at least $2.2 trillion. “It's hard to see how we can go any lower when you only...
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Trump Admin Spending Millions on PR to ‘Inspire Hope’ on Covid: CDC Director
CDC Director Robert Redfield’s testimony before a Senate panel on Wednesday made headlines for his comments that face masks probably offer more protection against the coronavirus than a vaccine and...
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Trump Urges GOP to Go for ‘Much Higher Numbers’ on Covid Relief
Maybe a coronavirus relief deal isn’t dead yet. While talks haven’t resumed, pressure is building — and now it’s coming from the White House, too. After months of stalemate, President Trump on...
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House Moderates Pitch $1.5 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Plan
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Tuesday that the House, just back in session after its summer recess, won’t leave for the November elections until a deal is reached on another coronavirus relief...
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Why Joe Biden Wants to Go Big on a Stimulus Package
By Michael RaineySome Democratic economic policy wonks have long believed they made a serious mistake during the Great Recession: The $787 billion stimulus package President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009 just...
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Biden’s Tax Plan: Who Really Would Pay More?
Joe Biden’s tax plan would have high earners paying significantly more, with the top 1% of households shouldering 80% of the increase while those earning less than $400 would see no change on average...
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White House ‘Not Optimistic’ About Reaching Coronavirus Stimulus Deal Soon
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday that he’s “not optimistic” about reaching a coronavirus relief deal with congressional Democrats before the end of September and sought to cast...
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More Than $1 Billion in Suspicious Coronavirus Relief Grants: Report
By Michael RaineyIn some parts of the country, the federal government has provided coronavirus relief grants to more businesses than are eligible to receive them, at a cost of at least $1.3 billion. An analysis by...
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Has Congress Done Enough to Combat Coronavirus Recession? Economists Are Split
Nearly two-thirds of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics say the U.S. is still in the recession that began in February and eight in 10 see at least a 25% chance of...
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US Debt Is Now Larger Than the Economy. Does It Matter?
By Michael RaineyThe national debt is now roughly the size of the U.S. economy, crossing a threshold that has long worried deficit hawks and many economists. At the end of 2019, the federal debt held by the public...
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Trump’s Second Term Agenda Revealed, Sort Of
It’s President Trump’s party now. Yes, we’re referring to this week’s Republican National Convention, where Trump formally was renominated on Monday to take on Joe Biden in November’s presidential...