Lower Deficit Predictions May Hamper U.S. Budget Deal
The recovering economy is producing greater tax revenues, but an improving deficit picture also reflects the accumulating effects of prior rounds of spending cuts.
Federal budget
IRS Overpaid on Tax Credit for the Poor by Up to $13.6 Billion
IRS over-refunds for the Earned Income Tax Credit are one of the bigger line items in the U.S. budget, but few politicians in either party are looking to fix the EITC problem.
Budget Deficit Up Sharply But Lower Than Last Year's Pace
The federal deficit likely grew sharply in February from January but stayed below last year's pace through the first five months of the budget year.
9 Ways the Sequester Will Affect You
The sequester will be tough on government employees, and on those whose jobs are directly supported by them. But even if you don't run a Jiffy Lube across the street from a military base, you still need to be prepared. Here's are eight unexpected ways the sequester will likely touch your life.
Interactive Calculator Shows You Exactly Where Your Taxes Go
As April 17 approaches, politicians and pundits of all stripes are taking potshots at the usual tax-debate villains. But there's never much talk about exactly how are our tax dollars are really spent.
Obama Sends FY2013 Budget Proposals to Congress
President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a new budget that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade while at the same time showering billions of dollars of increased spending on areas aimed at giving the economy a quick boost.
Surprise! Your Tax Burden Is Lighter Than You Think
With all the talk about taxes and whether we should lower them, you'd think that the citizens and corporations of the United States face steep tax rates. You'd be wrong, though. When it comes to taxes, things are not as they appear.
Perry's Flat Tax Plan: Big Savings, Bigger Costs
On Tuesday, Texas Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry finally entered the tax debate with "Cut, Balance and Grow," a startling new flat tax plan that borrows freely from Herman Cain's 9-9-9 proposal. But would it help American workers, or slash, topple and shrink the U.S. economy?
Surprise! Here's Where Your Tax Dollars Go
Taxes. We resent paying them, yet, for the most part, they fund things we'd rather not do without. But exactly how much of our money is going to each service? The White House has made it easy to answer that question. So here's a receipt for where your tax dollars are spent.
Cutting Medicare Eligibility Would Cost U.S. Billions
Among the many ideas legislators in Washington have proposed for reducing federal spending is raising the age at which Americans qualify for Medicare benefits from 65 to 67. On the surface, that makes sense. But scratch the surface and the numbers show it to be an $11 billion blunder.
What's Going On With Next Year's Federal Budget?
It has been a long, confusing summer for the federal budget: The FAA shutdown, the debt ceiling crisis, the Deficit "Supercommittee." But all of that was just prelude to the battles ahead over the 12 major appropriations bills to fund the government's "discretionary" spending.
Medicare's Next Patient: The Federal Budget Deficit
As the federal super committee looks for $1.5 trillion in cuts, it's clear that fixing the federal budget will mean tackling big items -- including Medicare, America's most popular social program and one of its most expensive.
Digging Into the U.S. Budget: What We Spend, and How
Getting even a tentative handle on the multi-trillion dollar federal budget is no easy matter. Still, as the debate surrounding U.S. spending, taxes and the looming debt ceiling continues, it's worth asking: Exactly how does America spend all that cash, and what do the choices being debated really mean?
How the Debt Ceiling Issue Will Hit Us in the Wallet
Even the phrase "debt ceiling" sounds like something too far removed from daily life to be of much interest. But ignoring the political battle over this issue would be a mistake: How the government handles the nation's debt limit will directly affect our personal finances in all sorts of important ways.
Social Security Isn't Broke, But We Still Should Fix It
It's true that Social Security paid out more than it collected in 2010. But the Trust Fund owns $2.6 trillion in Treasury bonds, and though some people may claim those holdings are an illusion, they aren't. Still, there are some fairly painless steps we could take to shore up the program's balance sheet for the long term.