Budget Battles
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Are Deficit Hawks Dead or Just Playing Possum?
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Why Democrats Want to Bring Back Earmarks
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Congress Reaches Spending Deal to Avoid Shutdown. Will Trump Go Along?
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Obama: 'Suddenly Deficits Do Not Matter'
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Freedom Caucus Divided on Shutdown
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Trump Told GOP Leaders He Won’t Force a Shutdown. Will He Keep That Promise?
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Senate Passes $854 Billion Spending Bill in Hopes of Averting Government Shutdown
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Kudlow: ‘I Don’t Buy’ That Tax Cuts Boosted Deficit
Larry Kudlow is at it again. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the top economic adviser to President Trump said that, while the administration is looking to cut federal spending — including...
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Social Security Pulled 27 Million People Out of Poverty in 2017
By Michael RaineySince 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau has produced a more sophisticated measure of poverty that, among other things, includes the income effects of government assistance programs such as Social Security...
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‘Things Are So Much Worse’ – but Does Anyone Care About the Deficit?
As we told you yesterday , the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 totaled $895 billion, or $222 billion more than it was over the...
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Social Security’s Troubling Trend
By The Fiscal Times StaffUnequal gains in life expectancy over the last half-century between Americans with greater earnings and education and those of lower socioeconomic status mean that the benefits of Social Security are...
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Trump Says He Made Social Security, Medicare Stronger. Fact-Checker Says False.
By The Fiscal Times StaffPresident Trump said this week that "Democrats want to destroy Medicare. If you look at what they’re doing, they’re going to destroy Medicare. And we will save it. We will keep it going. We’re making...
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Happy Birthday, Social Security!
By Michael RaineyPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law 83 years ago today, August 14, 1935. Here are some key facts about the program, courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy...
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The Deficit Is Up 20% This Year
By The Fiscal Times StaffThe federal deficit was 20 percent larger in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time last year, the Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. Revenues rose 1...
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Chart of the Day: Americans Using Government Programs
The federal welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families delivers cash aid to about 2.5 million people, or less than 1 percent of the U.S. population — “far smaller than the share...
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A Growing Problem for Seniors: Bankruptcy
The New York Times reports on new research that suggests a growing problem for seniors: “The rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991, the study found, and...
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US Interest Costs Will Match Social Security Spending by 2048, CBO Says
The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday confirmed what we already knew: The U.S. faces a rising tide of red ink, with the national debt as a share of the economy projected to nearly double over...
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Why the Social Security Disability Fund Is Looking Healthier
By Michael RaineyThe Social Security trustees’ report released earlier this month estimated that the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds will run out of reserves in 2032, four years later than expected. The...
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Do Deficit Hawks Have a Snowball’s Chance in Hell in Today’s Politics?
By Michael RaineyWhen Starbucks founder and executive chairman Howard Schultz announced his retirement earlier this week, he set off a round of speculation about a possible presidential run in 2020. Schultz has never...
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Medicare Finances Worsen, Social Security Will Tap Reserves for First Time in 36 Years
Medicare’s financial problems worsened last year while Social Security still faces a significant long-term financial crunch — and will need to tap into its reserves for the first time in 36 years,...
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Why More Retirees Are Waiting to Claim Social Security
By Michael RaineyRetirees are waiting longer to claim their Social Security benefits, reports Mark Miller of Reuters, with the number of early claimants dropping dramatically in recent years: “As recently as 2004,...
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Election Ad Wars 2018: GOP Focuses on Immigration, Dems on Health Care
The 2018 elections are 160 days away, but the campaign ad wars are already well under way, with Republicans and Democrats focusing on very different issues so far — though the election is clearly...