Social Security Faces Grim Forecast for 2010, 2011

There's something for everyone to hate

(NEWSER) - The budget plan the bipartisan Gang of Six ultimately devises will include $3 of spending cuts for every dollar it raises in additional tax revenues, Mark Warner tells Bloomberg , promising cuts in health care, defense, agriculture, and other domestic programs, along with changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The plan will generate revenue by reducing tax breaks. More»

Axing the Bush tax cuts is just the start

(NEWSER) - Tim Geithner said something pretty interesting about the Bush tax cuts in his speech yesterday at the Center for American Progress. The Treasury secretary explained why the administration was letting the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans expire now. “The world is likely to view any temporary extension … as a prelude to a permanent extension,” he said, which would undermine world confidence in our willingness to reduce future deficits. More»

Wants all options on the table to cut deficit

(NEWSER) - President Obama said Tuesday that he is "agnostic" about tax hikes for households making less than $250,000 a year, because he needs to consider all possible options for reducing the deficit. “What I can’t do is to set the thing up where a whole bunch of things are off the table,” the president told Bloomberg . “There are going to be some that say we can’t look at taxes, and pretty soon, you just can’t solve the problem. So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions.” More»

GOP's fiscal fear-mongering hurts jobless

(NEWSER) - The "deficit hysteria" spreading throughout Washington and the media reminds Paul Krugman of the fear-mongering about weapons of mass destruction ahead of the Iraq war. Assertions that the deficit will doom the economic recovery and undermine America's place in the world are being tossed about as if they're facts, when running a deficit is actually the right thing to do after a major recession, Krugman writes in the New York Times. More»

(NEWSER) - Low inflation could force the IRS to decrease the amount workers can contribute to their 401(k) plans to $16,000, USA Today reports. It would mark the first time the government has ever lowered contribution limits. Though a spokesperson says it’s too early for speculation, the IRS may not have any choice. "A strict interpretation of the code could lead them to believe that's their only option," a consultant says. More»