Tag: Medicaid

Budget Deal Is a Tipping Point for the US Economic Recovery

Curious Capitalist

Budget Deal Is a Tipping Point for the US Economic Recovery

By Dec. 11, 2013
image: The sun rises on a cloudy morning at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 13, 2012.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Whisper it—we may be at a tipping point in the US economic recovery. The announcement that U.S. budget negotiators have reached a provisional two-year deal to avert another government shutdown (which had been set to happen, sans deal, in early 2014) was fantastic news. For the last few years, government has been a headwind, rather than a help, to the recovery. If you’d have stripped the public sector out of the growth numbers over the last year or so, you’d find that the U.S. was already in a 3 percent growth economy, rather than the sluggish “New Normal” of 2 percent that we’ve all gotten used to. If this deal, which still has to be voted on in both the House and Senate, marks a move from gridlocked, partisan politics in Washington to something more constructive, that’s a big deal. Continue reading “Budget Deal Is a Tipping Point for the US Economic Recovery”

Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits

Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits

Cuts to federal pensions, Social Security and other benefits could be on the table during negotiations on a longer term federal budget.

The Budget Conference Committee, created in the wake of the 16-day government shutdown, reportedly is considering major changes to a number of federal benefits programs as part of a deal to replace the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration.

These cuts could include: Continue reading “Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits”

Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits

Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits

Cuts to federal pensions, Social Security and other benefits could be on the table during negotiations on a longer term federal budget.

The Budget Conference Committee, created in the wake of the 16-day government shutdown, reportedly is considering major changes to a number of federal benefits programs as part of a deal to replace the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration.

These cuts could include: Continue reading “Budget deal could target federal pensions, Social Security, other benefits”

Republicans Continue Hostage Crisis

AFL-CIO Now

Republicans Continue Hostage Crisis

02/28/2013Mike Hall

 Republicans Continue Hostage Crisis

Holding out for ransom demands in the form of benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Senate Republicans today again refused to surrender their hostages—the nation’s economy and working families who will be hurt by the upcoming Republican sequester.

Republicans led the charge to defeat a Democratic plan that would have eliminated the across-the-board sequestration budget cuts for the remainder of 2013, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would cost 750,000 jobs.

The bill—defeated 51-49 (it required 60 votes for passage)—would have replaced the cuts, in part, with additional tax revenue from millionaires, including adopting the “Buffett Rule,” which sets a minimum effective tax rate of 30% for taxpayers with income higher than $1 million. Continue reading “Republicans Continue Hostage Crisis”

Working Families Tell Lawmakers: ‘Protect Our Future’

AFL-CIO Now

01/30/2013 Mike Hall

 Photo by Katelyn Hartford

After Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-Ohio) office ignored requests from Columbus-area families to meet and talk about the kind of budget policies he and other lawmakers are pushing that would hurt both working people and the recovering U.S. economy, they decided to drop by anyway.

The Wednesday action outside Portman’s Columbus office was just one of dozens of “Protect Our Future” demonstrations around the country. The events focused on rejecting any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid; closing loopholes for Wall Street and the richest 2%; and canceling the sequestration crisis lawmakers like Portman, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others created for themselves and the rest of the country. Continue reading “Working Families Tell Lawmakers: ‘Protect Our Future’”

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