Budget Battles
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US Deficit Soars to $3.1 Trillion
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McConnell Rejects Trump’s Call for Bigger Stimulus
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Mnuchin: Relief Bill Will Be ‘Difficult’ Before Election
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Trump Undermines McConnell on Stimulus Plan
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Trump Faces a GOP Revolt Over Stimulus
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Trump's Big U-Turn: A $1.8 Trillion Stimulus Offer
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Pelosi Plays Hardball as Stimulus Talks Resume
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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...
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Number of the Day: $23 a Month
By Michael RaineyThe Social Security Administration on Thursday said the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 would be 1.6%. That translates to a bump of about $23 on the average monthly benefit of $1,460. The 2020...
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The Case for Giving Social Security to Children
By Michael RaineyUS social welfare programs reduced poverty by about two-thirds overall in 2018, according to an analysis of Census data by Matt Bruenig of the left-leaning People’s Policy Project. Bruenig offers a...
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Elizabeth Warren Has a Plan to Expand Social Security
By Michael Rainey and Yuval RosenbergElizabeth Warren released a plan Thursday to expand Social Security and raise benefit payments. Warren’s plan would: Immediately increase benefit payments by $200 a month. If enacted, Warren’s plan...
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More Progress in Tackling Poverty, but Meager Gains for the Middle Class
The poverty rate fell for the fourth straight year in 2018, dropping to 11.8%, the lowest level since 2001, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. In all, some 38 million people were living in poverty...
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Op-Ed of the Day: Fighting the Next Recession Now
By The Fiscal Times StaffJason Furman, the former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama, has some advice for Congress: Start preparing for the next recession now. In a Wall Street...