Alice Rivlin: "We're Flirting with Disaster"

2011-12-21T11:30:21Z

The Former White House budget chief thinks Congress squandered its opportunity to rein in the national debt but may still come to its senses.

No one is more familiar with fiscal and political drama in D.C. than Reuters) - A pay freeze for federal workers would be extended for another three years as part of a Senate Republican plan offered on Wednesday to cover the cost of President Barack Obama's call to extend a popular payroll tax cut.

Democrats reject latest deficit-cutting plan

2011-11-18T16:00:21Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democrats rejected a scaled-back proposal from Republicans that contained few tax increases.

With Democrats and Republicans on a deficit-cutting "super committee" dea...

Deficit-cutting panel girds for failure

2011-11-18T13:00:29Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn U.S. budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democratic and Republican lawmakers were unable to agree on tax increases and benefit cuts.

A 12-member "super committee" has until midnight on Wednesday to strike a deal that would save at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Members say they think ...

Deficit committee locked in budget stalemate

2011-11-16T17:01:42Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Budget talks in the Congress were locked in stalemate on Wednesday amid the disclosure of a Democratic offer last week that drew no Republican interest.

With a deadline less than a week away, members of a 12-member "super committee" tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in budget savings over 10 years confronted the same barriers that have thwarted earlier efforts to rein ...

U.S. deficit panel could delay on taxes

2011-11-14T17:00:08Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers might opt to postpone tough tax decisions until next year as they struggle to forge a deficit-reduction deal over the coming week, congressional aides said on Monday.

With time running short, the "super committee" of six Democra...

Deficit panel could delay on taxes

2011-11-14T11:30:10Z

With time running short, the "super committee" of six Democrats and six Reuters) - In a sign of possible progress in bipartisan U.S. deficit talks, Republicans seem more flexible on corporate taxes, a change that could help the congressional "super committee" chart the country's path back to fiscal health.

Lobbyists familiar with the deficit negotiations said Reuters) - A congressional "super committee" convenes on Thursday to launch its search for at least $1.2 trillion in new deficit reductions as global financial markets look for signs that the world's largest economy is trying to get its fiscal house in order.

When the panel of 12 congressional Democrats

Factbox: Top contenders for deficit super committee

2011-08-08T14:30:53Z

(Reuters) - Here are U.S. lawmakers seen by analysts and congressional aides as some of the front-runners for selection to a 12-member "super committee" being set up to address budget and tax issues.

The panel will have six Democrats and six Republicans, split evenly between the Senate and the Reuters) - House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan warned on Wednesday that big spending cuts are necessary now to control the deficit and prevent a collision between fiscal and monetary policy.

"Big deficits today are nothing more...

U.S. deficit deal could head off debt-limit fight

2011-04-21T15:30:16Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Washington gears up for a fight over the debt ceiling, lawmakers are considering an approach that would allow them to say they are adopting fiscal discipline over the long term even as they vote for increased borrowing.

The approach, outlined in several proposals circulating on Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday laid out his long-term strategy to reduce the U.S. budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years.

He proposed four steps to achieving balance: savings on the defense budget, elimination of waste in healthcare spending, control of domestic expenditures and...

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll

2011-03-09T12:00:21Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans prefer cutting defense spending to reduce the federal deficit rather than taking money from public retirement and health programs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed.

The poll found 51 percent of Americans support reducing defense spending, and only 28 percent want to cut President Barack Obama's deficit commission Wednesday, putting approval in doubt. However, both parties' Senate budget point men embraced the plan, and even opponents called it a starting point for efforts next year to control the nation's ballooning debt.

"It's a template that gives people an opportunity to ...

AP-CNBC Poll: Cut services to balance the budget

2010-11-30T01:00:17Z

AP-CNBC Poll: Service cuts a favored path for balancing budget, but little consensus on where

To ease surging budget deficits, Americans prefer cutting federal services to raising taxes by nearly 2-1 in a new poll. Yet there is little consensus on specific, meaningful steps — and a wariness about touching two gargantuan programs, Social Security and

Full agenda as Congress tries to finish for year

2010-11-28T05:30:25Z

So little time, so much to do as Congress heads into final stretch

The unemployed and millionaires. Doctors and black farmers. Illegal immigrants hiding from the law and gays hiding in the military. Along with just about everybody else, they all have something at stake as Congress struggles to wrap up its work for the year.

Lawmakers, after taking Thanksgiving week off, arrive in town Monday along with the Capito...

Time To Redefine Gov't To Social Reality

2010-11-29T14:45:24Z

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Obama State of the Union

2010-11-30T13:54:41Z

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Analysis: Deficit panel pushes Dems, GOP

2010-11-12T13:30:32Z

Analysis: Deficit panel pushes GOP, Dems, to accept higher taxes, spending cuts to curb debt

The leaders of the deficit commission are baldly calling out the budget myths of both political parties, challenging lawmakers to engage in the "adult conversation" they say they want.

Their plan — mixing painful cuts to Social Security and Medicare with big tax increases ...

Why the US needs an austerity budget

2010-11-29T15:43:18Z

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2010 election campaign tactics by republicans and democrats

2010-11-29T16:03:50Z

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White House Open To Lame-Duck Deal To Renew Tax Cuts

2010-11-29T14:44:24Z

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Look At The Real Numbers, The Recession Never Ended

2010-11-29T14:40:11Z

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Is an Obamaville in Your Future?

2010-11-05T07:04:18Z

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Reflections: Trusting our medical care to government bureaucracy

2010-11-04T14:01:38Z

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Lessons Not Learned

2010-11-03T03:20:41Z

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Pledging Our Way To Fiscal Disaster

2010-11-02T12:29:11Z

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When Will Republicans Quit Contradicting Themselves?

2010-11-02T14:48:26Z

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A productive Congress gets no respect from voters

2010-10-18T01:00:30Z

The public panned it. Republicans obstructed it. Many Democrats fled from it. Even so, the session of Congress now drawing to a close was the most productive in nearly half a century.

Not since the explosive years of the civil rights movement and the hard-fought debut of government-supported health care for the elderly and poor have so many big things — love them or hate them — been done so quickly.

Gridlock? It may feel that way. But that's not the story of the 1...

ADWATCH: With campaign ads, don't trust, verify

2010-10-15T01:30:48Z

ADWATCH: On taxes, jobs, campaign ads spin fanciful fiction from mere nuggets of truth

Finding an actual fact in this season's load of campaign ads is like panning for nuggets. There's a lot of fool's gold in the way.

In this warped-lens world, a Democrat who votes against his party more than every other legislator except one is branded a lapdog of his party's leadership. A federal deficit from the past is attributed to a health care law that did not yet exi...

With campaign ads, don't trust, verify

2010-11-02T12:28:04Z

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How Do You Feel About the Head of the IRS being Someone Who Hasn't Paid His Taxes?

2010-11-03T00:01:17Z

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How Tax Cuts Work

2010-11-02T18:28:19Z

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COMMON SENSE AMERICA

2010-11-03T00:00:31Z

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A Post Election Challenge | An Independent Voters View

2010-11-03T00:17:31Z

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Delos Smith: Federal Infrastructure Spending Needed

2010-11-02T12:15:05Z

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We Can Afford Obamacare, But Not Tax Cuts?

2010-09-23T07:04:32Z

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What comes after a trillion? Save some of your money from taxes, bailouts

2010-09-11T13:06:22Z

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Watch Your Assets

2010-11-02T13:50:54Z

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Nariman Behravesh: Job Growth to Match Population Growth First Half of 2011

2010-11-02T12:12:10Z

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Obama touts benefits to Medicare from health law

2010-08-07T03:45:03Z

President Barack Obama says Medicare will exist for many more years, thanks to new legislation that helped put the health care program for America's seniors on stronger financial footing.

Seniors already are benefiting from that new health care law, said Obama, noting that many have received $250 rebates to help buy medici...

POWER CORRUPTS; ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY

2010-10-06T10:51:24Z

POWER CORRUPTS; ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY

Lord Acton (1834?1902)

The RAT board --- this is an appropriate acronym. The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board --- a provision included in the stimulus bill, has the job to oversee in-house watchdogs, known as inspectors general. The inspectors general job is to INDEPENDENTLY investigate allegations of wrongdoing at various feder...

Starving The Beast Or Free Lunch?

2010-11-02T12:24:48Z

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Starving the Beast or Free Lunch?

2010-11-02T12:24:42Z

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The Politics of Risk and the Risks of Politics

2010-11-02T12:07:22Z

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How Bad Is the Budget Outlook?

2010-11-02T12:06:56Z

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Health Care Reform Winners

2010-11-02T12:23:32Z

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Aid to states, the jobless faces Senate hurdles

2010-06-15T14:30:40Z

Despite earlier support, aid to states, jobless and doctors' Medicare pay faces Senate hurdles

A bill providing jobless benefits and tens of billions of dollars in new aid for states and Medicare payments for doctors hangs by a thread in Congress despite lingering worries of another recession without it.

The measure has been months in the making, and an earlier version passed the Senate fairly easily just three...

The Big Tax Increase Facing Small Business

2010-10-27T09:01:03Z

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House approves pared-back tax and spending bill

2010-05-28T12:15:27Z

The House on Friday voted to extend unemployment benefits to people mired in joblessness but cut off help with health insurance for the newly unemployed. Money to assist with health insurance was among the tens of billions of dollars trimmed from programs introduced in last year's economic stimulus bill.

The 215-204 vote to approve the measure capped a turbulent week for Democratic leaders, who were forced by party moderates and conservatives unhappy with continued deficit spending...

House approves bill extending jobless benefits

2010-05-28T11:00:40Z

House passes pared-back tax and spending bill extending benefits for long-term jobless

The House has adopted a measure renewing unemployment benefits for people who have been without a job for at least six months.

The jobless benefits are in a legislative grab bag blending numerous spending measures with a renewal of tax breaks as well as tax increases to help pay for it all.

Pressure from moderate $18 billion jobless benefits bill passes the Senate, may quickly clear the House

Congress is sending President Barack Obama an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for people who have been out of a job for months and resume full Medicare payments to doctors threatened by a 21 percent cut.

The House cleared the bill Thursday night by a 289-112 ...

Tax Day rhetoric aside, Americans' bills are lower

2010-04-19T15:47:34Z

Americans paying less taxes this year despite Tax Day rhetoric, increases by struggling states

You wouldn't know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year, even with increases passed by many states to balance their budgets. Don't expect it to last.

Congress cut individuals' federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion shortly after President Barack Obama took office...

How Will Coming Higher Taxes Impact Stock Prices?

2010-10-25T12:54:31Z

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Looking Hard For Health Care Reform Winners

2010-10-25T12:55:23Z

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Health-Care Law No Palliative for Portfolios

2010-10-27T07:42:44Z

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Most Americans: "Tax the rich but not me"

2010-03-29T10:30:22Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans believe tax hikes are OK if you're making more than $250,000, a policy proposed by President Barack Obama, but hands off Medicare and Social Security, a poll released on Monday found.

The Quinnipiac Universit...

Healthcare bill could be a silent killer of Americans

2010-03-28T19:15:07Z

More incentive on the part of the government to have inflation

Like many of you, the passage of the healthcare bill wasn’t met with the popping of champagne in my house. I found myself chanting “Uncle Sam, Uncle Sham” as the day wore on. Higher taxes and other major changes are headed our way. And yet, I think there’s something in the bill that’s even more dastardly.

If you’re a supporter of the bill, you’d point to its benefits: Poor adults will get

Falling Bonds Drag Stocks Down, Too

2010-10-27T07:42:42Z

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Here Is How the Health Care Tax Would Affect Individual High Income Tax Earnings

2010-10-25T12:29:38Z

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Health care bill extends wage tax to investments

2010-03-19T07:30:13Z

Health care bill would increase wage taxes, add new levy on investments for high earners

High-income families would be hit with a tax increase on wages and a new levy on investments under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul bill.

For the first time, the Medicare payroll tax would be applied to investment income, beginning in 2013. A new 3.8 perce...

Gridlock On Main Street

2010-10-25T09:53:12Z

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Budget crunch a campaign snare

2010-02-27T02:15:21Z

Candidates for governor face risks by offering, withholding solutions

Being broke is never fun, as Nevadas governor and the men who would replace him can attest.

Nevadas fiscal crisis leaves few good options, forcing candidates for governor to crank up their creativity:

Gov. Jim Gibbons, who has staked his political survival on being a champion of the anti-tax movement, has tried to say increasing ...

Is Concern Over the Budget Deficit Just a Scare Story?

2010-10-25T08:33:41Z

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Deficit panel can be candid: Budget cuts will hurt

2010-06-12T18:32:48Z

Deficit commission can go where politicians fear to tread: Reducing deficits will hurt people

President Barack Obama's new deficit commission might give Americans a slap in the face about the sacrifices needed to avoid bankrupting future generations — maybe working until age 70, paying higher taxes and spending more of their own money for doctors' visits and prescriptions.

Obama certainly won'...

Paul Ryan's Budgetary Holy Grail

2010-10-25T04:40:36Z

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MEDICARE POLL

2010-12-30T01:00:26Z

Graphic shows poll results on public opinion about Medicare

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Medicare and the Boomers

2010-12-29T08:01:23Z

Fred Wemer stands outside his home in Seattle, in this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010. Wermer is a retired dentist and says Medicare pays his medical bills well enough, but he thinks there's a lot of waste in the program and doubts it will be there for his grandchildren. He opposes turning Medicare into a voucher plan for the purchase of private in...

Medicare Cuts

2010-11-12T14:03:03Z

Information relating to Medicare is seen at the offices of Dr. Kathryn Wagner, a breast cancer surgeon, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, in San Antonio. Wagner has posted the warning in her waiting room about a different sort of risk to patients' health. The sign says she'll stop taking new Medicare cases if Congress allows looming cuts in doc...

Medicare Sleuths

2010-08-08T02:00:13Z

FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2009, file photo the Senate Finance Committee's ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wears two pairs of glasses while reading during the committee's hearing regarding health care reform on Capitol Hill in Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael J. Astrue, left, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, center, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaks about the Social Security and Medicare Trustees report, Thursday, A...

News on Medicare

Alice Rivlin: "We're Flirting with Disaster"

Democrats reject latest deficit-cutting plan

Deficit-cutting panel girds for failure

Deficit committee locked in budget stalemate

U.S. deficit panel could delay on taxes

Deficit panel could delay on taxes

Factbox: Top contenders for deficit super committee

U.S. deficit deal could head off debt-limit fight

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll

AP-CNBC Poll: Cut services to balance the budget

Full agenda as Congress tries to finish for year

Time To Redefine Gov't To Social Reality

Obama State of the Union

Analysis: Deficit panel pushes Dems, GOP

Why the US needs an austerity budget

2010 election campaign tactics by republicans and democrats

White House Open To Lame-Duck Deal To Renew Tax Cuts

Look At The Real Numbers, The Recession Never Ended

Is an Obamaville in Your Future?

Reflections: Trusting our medical care to government bureaucracy

Lessons Not Learned

Pledging Our Way To Fiscal Disaster

When Will Republicans Quit Contradicting Themselves?

A productive Congress gets no respect from voters

ADWATCH: With campaign ads, don't trust, verify

With campaign ads, don't trust, verify

How Do You Feel About the Head of the IRS being Someone Who Hasn't Paid His Taxes?

How Tax Cuts Work

COMMON SENSE AMERICA

A Post Election Challenge | An Independent Voters View

Delos Smith: Federal Infrastructure Spending Needed

We Can Afford Obamacare, But Not Tax Cuts?

What comes after a trillion? Save some of your money from taxes, bailouts

Watch Your Assets

Nariman Behravesh: Job Growth to Match Population Growth First Half of 2011

Obama touts benefits to Medicare from health law

POWER CORRUPTS; ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY

Starving The Beast Or Free Lunch?

Starving the Beast or Free Lunch?

The Politics of Risk and the Risks of Politics

How Bad Is the Budget Outlook?

Health Care Reform Winners

Aid to states, the jobless faces Senate hurdles

The Big Tax Increase Facing Small Business

House approves pared-back tax and spending bill

House approves bill extending jobless benefits

Tax Day rhetoric aside, Americans' bills are lower

How Will Coming Higher Taxes Impact Stock Prices?

Looking Hard For Health Care Reform Winners

Health-Care Law No Palliative for Portfolios

Most Americans: "Tax the rich but not me"

Healthcare bill could be a silent killer of Americans

Falling Bonds Drag Stocks Down, Too

Here Is How the Health Care Tax Would Affect Individual High Income Tax Earnings

Health care bill extends wage tax to investments

Gridlock On Main Street

Budget crunch a campaign snare

Is Concern Over the Budget Deficit Just a Scare Story?

Deficit panel can be candid: Budget cuts will hurt

Paul Ryan's Budgetary Holy Grail

MEDICARE POLL

Medicare and the Boomers

Medicare Cuts

Medicare Sleuths