Topic: Federal Budget
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
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Five ways to improve Obama's pre-k plan
President Obama’s Preschool for All plan is well intentioned but includes features that are not justified by research and won’t help it pass in Congress. The plan must make the following five adjustments.
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Where do things stand at Guantánamo? Six basic questions answered.
President Obama this week pledged to “reengage” with Congress to find a way to close the terror detention camp at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, naval base. The renewed focus comes as 100 of the 166 detainees are reported to be engaged in a hunger strike. Here is a brief look at where things stand now.
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World's five largest companies
For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s five largest public companies are all American affair These are the Top 5, as of mid-April 2013.
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5 steps to bipartisan cuts in Medicare – and the deficit
Medicare is the single greatest contributor to long-term deficits. If Democrats and Republicans cooperate on waste-cutting ideas – many of which are backed by President Obama – both parties stand to gain. Here are five ways Congress should act.
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Briefing
After the 'sequester,' now what?
$85 billion in across-the-board cuts to defense and social programs took effect March 1. The cuts must occur this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Here's how things look.
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Sen. Tom Coburn: How 'Dr. No' helps others say 'yes' (+video)
The Oklahoma Republican, an outsider's outsider, has become an essential player on key issues because if the opposition can cut a deal with Coburn, an unassailable conservative, other conservatives will go along.
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Robert Reich Obama budget: Why entitlement cuts are a 'grand bargain' we don't need
President Obama's willingness to negotiate on Social Security – which Democrats have protected from Republican assaults for almost eighty years – doesn’t bode well, Reich writes.
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Obama budget's big education items: Preschool for All, college Race to the Top (+video)
President Obama's budget proposal gives the Education Department $71.2 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal year 2014. Preschool for All would be funded by a tax hike on cigarettes.
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Obama budget changes Social Security: Are Republicans on board?
President Obama proposed changes to entitlements including Social Security in his new budget, prompting hopes of a 'grand bargain.' Republicans mixed qualified approval with skepticism.
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Obama’s budget gambit: Return of the 'grand bargain'?
President Obama is for the first time proposing a budget that includes changes to Social Security and Medicare. This infuriates the left but could open the door to compromise with Republicans.
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Six things Obama's budget plan reveals about his priorities
President Obama's $3.78 trillion budget for fiscal 2014 lays out elements of a possible 'grand bargain' with Congress. At the same time, it speaks to his policy priorities.
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'Sequester blues' for grounded Blue Angels
Navy's Blue Angels are grounded by federal budget cuts. For first time in six decades, Blue Angels won't appear at air shows, including San Francisco's Fleet Week in the fall.
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Budget cuts will ground fighter jets, Pentagon announces
A third of the U.S. Air Force's active-duty force of combat planes — including fighters and bombers — will be grounded due to federal budget cuts, a top general said Tuesday.
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Entitlement reform takes step toward reality in new Obama budget
President Obama will unveil a budget Wednesday that includes reforms to entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. The budget probably won't pass, but it points to a shift in the debate.
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Robert Reich The invisible sequester
Americans are starting to feel the pain from the sequester's $85 billion in federal spending cuts between March and September 30, Reich writes. They just don’t know it yet.
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Obama budget plan would cut deficits – but enough?
A sketch of President Obama's new budget proposal shows a modest amount of deficit reduction, but some experts say more is needed to set the US on a stable economic path.
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Paper Economy Food stamp use down in January
Food stamp use dropped in January as 514,518 individual recipients were removed from the food stamps program with the current total still increasing 1.78 percent on a year-over-year basis.
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Obama's budget offends just about everybody. Is that compromise?
President Obama will unveil his federal budget proposal this coming week. Based on leaked details, the plan already is getting hammered by his own liberal base as well as by Republicans.
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Energy Voices How US energy policy fails to address climate change
To manage energy supplies and climate change risks, the United States has done little in terms of policy that makes sense given the gravity of the climate change challenges it and the world face, Cobb writes.
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Liberals to Obama: not so fast on Social Security cuts
The worst fears of progressive groups were confirmed Friday: President Obama's budget will include cuts to Social Security. But the call has gone out, and liberals are fighting back.
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Cuts to Social Security? What Obama is proposing.
In an effort to reach a bipartisan agreement to reduce federal deficits, President Obama is backing a change in the inflation formula used to calculate adjustments in Social Security benefits.
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Jobs report for March a disappointment. What happened?
The US economy created only 88,000 jobs last month. Possible factors include the increase in payroll taxes, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, and the tailing off of repairs from superstorm Sandy.
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Robert Reich Chained CPI for Social Security would hurt seniors
Using a chained consumer price index to adjust Social Security benefits for inflation would make it even harder for seniors to keep up with the cost of health care. So why are Democrats proposing it?
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Why Obama is taking a pay cut
In solidarity with the federal employees receiving reductions in pay as a result of the sequester, the president has opted to return 5 percent of his salary to the government this year. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will also return a portion of his salary.
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Decoder Wire Obama 5% of salary: He'll give it back, in sign of 'sequester' solidarity
Obama 5% of salary will be returned as a tribute to federal workers facing furloughs under the sequester. That's $20,000 – a big chunk for most people, but for the president, not so much.
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Focus Medicare: Could Rep. Paul Ryan's reform plan work?
The only big Medicare reform idea that's been pitched in public is called 'premium support,' championed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R). Here's how it would work, and here's why Democrats deride it as a 'voucher.'
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Focus Taming Medicare costs: What are the options?
The US spends twice as much per person on health care as other advanced economies, and Medicare is one of the biggest culprits. But here's why cutting its costs won't be easy.
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Stock market's record bull run shows few signs of slowing down
Stock market averages are hitting record highs routinely, and there are few red flags to indicate they are about to peak. Instead, historical data suggest a continued upward trend.
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Opinion: Think you know the Reagan and Bush era? Think again.
Political events in the era of Presidents Reagan and Bush senior have great relevance to today, from budget cuts ('sequestration') to President Obama's agenda. But this history is often remembered incorrectly, or not at all – to the detriment of America's political discourse.
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Veterans groups gear up to fight any proposed changes to disability payments
To help reduce the deficit, President Barack Obama has suggested using a different measure of inflation to calculate Social Security benefits, leading to a slower growth rate. Veterans groups worry such a change could apply to disability payments.
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