Budget Battles
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House Republicans Pass Defense Bill Packed with Culture War Policies
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Trump Promises CEOs Another Tax Cut
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Price Hikes Ease in May, Raising Hopes in Battle on Inflation
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Surprisingly Strong US Economy Is Powering Global Growth: World Bank
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White House Slams Republican Tax Cut Plans
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Blockbuster Jobs Report Sends Mixed Message to the Fed
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Trump Tax Cut Extension Won't Pay for Itself: Analysis
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Congress Averts Shutdown, Passes a Five Month $1.1 Trillion Spending Package
By Eric PianinGOP and Democratic negotiators struck a final deal over the weekend for a roughly $1.1 trillion spending package to carry the government through the remainder of the fiscal year – a plan that...
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Renewed Fight Over Obamacare Could Prompt Government Shutdown
By Eric PianinThe bitter partisan warfare over health care reform intensified on Thursday when congressional Democrats threatened to shut down the government this weekend if House Republicans try to move forward...
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12 Reasons Another Government Shutdown Would Hurt the Country
By Eric PianinThe last time the federal government was shut down nearly four years ago, hundreds of adults and children were temporarily denied access to National Institutes of Health (NIH) cancer clinical trials...
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Can Trump’s Wall Really Pay for Itself Over 10 Years?
By Rob GarverThe original plan for President Trump’s border wall, repeated ad nauseam on the campaign trail, was that it would be paid for by Mexico. On Sunday, though, Attorney General Jeff Sessions floated a...
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Trump Pushes Congress to the Wall to Avoid a Government Shutdown
By Rob GarverThe already-complicated effort to avert a government shutdown on April 29 is taking on another layer of complexity, with the White House demanding that any spending measure that funds the federal...
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Why You Might Not Get Your Tax Refund on Time This Year
By Rob GarverEvery year, millions of Americans anxiously await the annual infusion of cash from the Internal Revenue Service when it pays back excess withholding from the previous year. However, according to the...
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After Their Break, Congress Will Have 4 Days to Avoid a Shutdown
By Eric Pianin and Rob GarverWhen members of the House of Representatives return to Washington from a nearly three-week break at the end of the month, they will have left themselves just four legislative days to come to some...
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Trump Hands Democrats Another Reason to Shut Down the Government
By Rob GarverWith representatives of both major parties making optimistic noises about their ability to come together on a bill that would allow the government to remain open once the current temporary spending...
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The Clock Is Ticking on a Government Shutdown: 5 Things You Need to Know
By Rob GarverAs Congress prepares to leave town for another break, the Senate has been focused on the effort to confirm (or deny) Neil Gorsuch as a justice of the Supreme Court. The GOP House is desperate to show...
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Why Another Government Shutdown Is Suddenly in the Cards
By Rob GarverThe clock is already ticking on the Trump administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s next showdown with recalcitrant Republican lawmakers.
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The Rising Cost of Gridlock
By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal TimesThe great weakness of the American political system is gridlock. It was baked in the cake by the Founding Fathers, who deliberately set up a system in which the White House, Senate and House of...
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How Congress Could Avoid Another Fiscal Crisis
By Eric PianinSomething strange is happening on Capitol Hill these days: Committee leaders from the House and Senate are meeting face-to-face to try to iron out differences in their competing bills. After years of...
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Earnings Season: Who Will Play the Shutdown Blame Game?
By Suzanne McGee, The Fiscal TimesCompanies playing the “blame game” may not be trying to find a scapegoat; they may not be trying to distract us from some kind of fundamental weakness. They just may not want us to remember that the...
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Obama and Sebelius: "The Dog Ate My Homework"
When I first started reading comic strips more than 40 years ago, one of the most popular was Bil Keane’s Family Circus , a lighthearted look at childhood and family dynamics. One running gag had to...
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Economic Anxiety Has Consumers Clutching Wallets
By POLYANA DA COSTA, BankrateMore than four years after the last recession officially ended, Americans are still holding onto their wallets tightly as they worry about the economy and as their paychecks barely keep up with...