Budget Battles
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Dems Back Away From Paid Leave, Billionaire Tax
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Dems’ Mad Dash to Finish Tax and Spending Plan
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Democrats Close In on a Deal
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Dems Zero In on a Rapidly Shrinking Agenda
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No New Tax Hikes? Sinema Sends Dems Scrambling
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Biden, Dems Take an Axe to Their Spending Plan
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Biden Pushes Democrats on Spending Deal
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Social Security Benefits Will See Biggest Boost in Nearly 40 Years
By Michael RaineySocial Security benefits will increase by 5.9% in 2022, the largest increase since 1982, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday. “This would be the highest COLA that most...
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Social Security Trust Fund to Run Out by 2034, Report Says
Social Security won’t be able to pay full benefits by 2034, one year earlier than projected last year, unless Congress acts to address the program’s finances, according the annual report released...
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Why Biden Fired the Head of the Social Security Administration
President Joe Biden on Friday fired Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul, a Trump appointee who had drawn criticism from Democrats and advocacy groups for seeking to restrict...
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Social Security Less Damaged by Covid Recession Than Experts Feared
By Michael RaineyAs the Covid crisis took hold in early 2020, budget experts worried that rapidly disappearing jobs and plummeting tax receipts would put a serious dent in Social Security’s finances. But according to...
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What Trump and Biden Would Mean for Social Security
After years of warnings about the financial challenges facing Social Security, the coronavirus pandemic and its economic effects mean that the time to get serious about ensuring that full benefits...
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Trump’s Payroll Tax Plan Fizzles
President Trump’s payroll tax deferral plan is fizzling. The plan , meant to boost workers’ incomes by allowing their employers to postpone collection of the 6.2% employee share of the tax funding...
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Social Security Trust Fund Depleted by 2031: CBO
By Michael RaineyThe Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance fund will be depleted by 2031, according to a report released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO said the surplus in the fund,...
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Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral Gets Rolling
By Michael RaineyThe IRS issued guidance late Friday that provides details on President Trump’s executive action to allow employers to stop collecting Social Security taxes for employees starting September 1 through...
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Trump’s Payroll Tax Plan Is Hung Up in a Dispute With the IRS: Report
By Michael RaineyPresident Trump’s effort to suspend employee Social Security taxes starting September 1 is hung up over a dispute over who should be responsible for making the tax payments once the suspension is...
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Terminating Payroll Tax Could Wipe Out Social Security by 2023, Chief Actuary Says
Eliminating payroll taxes could drain the Social Security trust funds within a few years if no alternative source of funding is provided, the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary said in a...
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Biden Bashes Trump on Social Security, Taxes and Health Care
By Michael RaineyJoe Biden’s well-received acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night may have emphasized his differences with President Donald Trump —with a heavy focus on personal...
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What's in the GOP's New Coronavirus Relief Plan?
Congress is back in Washington this week and getting down to the difficult task of negotiating the next, and potentially final, coronavirus relief package. The parties are far apart, with House...
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Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Wants Next Coronavirus Bill to Address Rising Debt
Congress is likely to pass another coronavirus relief bill at some point, but doing so may require addressing the mounting deficit concerns of a bipartisan group of lawmakers. A group of 60 House...
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A Look at America’s ‘Broken Retirement System’
By Michael RaineyMillions of baby boomers are discovering that getting older isn’t getting any easier, thanks in part to a retirement system that fails to deliver security for millions of Americans. “Every day, 10,...
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How the Coronavirus Could Damage Social Security
By Michael RaineyThe trustees for Social Security say the program’s long-term outlook for hasn’t changed much in the last year – but that’s ignoring any potential negative effects from the coronavirus. The latest...