Budget Battles
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Pelosi and Schumer Make a Big Concession on Stimulus
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Senators Float $908 Billion Stimulus Compromise
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What Biden’s New Economic Team Says About His Agenda
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What Biden’s Pick of Yellen Means for the Economy and Stimulus
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Trump Threatens Veto of Defense Bill
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Virus Surge Could Wallop the Economy Again
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Mnuchin Pulls Plug on Emergency Covid-Relief Programs
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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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The American Dream Alive and Well in ... Finland?
By Michael RaineyBernie Sanders’s opponents routinely accuse him of being a “socialist” bent on importing nefarious foreign values to the U.S., and President Trump took that approach one step further this past...
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Budget Deficit to Top $1 Trillion a Year for Next Decade: CBO
The U.S. budget deficit is expected to top $1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 and remain above that level indefinitely, lifting the national debt over the next decade to its highest level since World...
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The Next Big Fiscal Question: How to Raise More Revenue?
By Michael RaineyAn all-star roster of fiscal experts gathered at the Brookings Institution Tuesday to debate the future of American tax policy. The initial discussion featured former U.S. Treasury secretaries...
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The Trouble Ahead for Federal Trust Funds
By Michael RaineyThe aggregate balance of the hundreds of federal trust funds and other dedicated funds will start declining in two years, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office...
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Biden and Sanders Trade More Shots Over Social Security
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders continue to trade shots over Social Security. On Tuesday night, Sanders tweeted out an ad featuring an audio clip from a 1995 Biden Senate...