Social Security Recipients Will Get A 5.9% Increase, The Largest In Decades

Had Congress been unable to reach an agreement, the fallout would have been "catastrophic," according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, with child tax credits, Social Security benefits and military paychecks all hanging in the balance. The December deadline was a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, but the path for a longer-term solution remains…

Oct. 8— A recent concession by President Joe Biden to lower the cost of his 10- year $3.5 trillion plan to bolster the middle class to around $2.3 trillion is more reasonable given the federal debt, yearly deficits and the reality of Washington politics. The deal-making experience of Biden's near 50 years in Congress seems to be paying off. We just hope it isn't too…

As Congress continues to flirt with the idea of not raising or suspending the nation's debt limit, economists and scholars once again are considering whether creative escape hatches such as a trillion-dollar coin or the invocation of the 14th Amendment might help the United States avoid a self-inflicted economic calamity.¶ Republicans and Democrats are at…

In the chart below, the red bar in the middle is the current U.S. top rate of 29.2 percent, which is much higher than the OECD average of 19.1 percent. With state taxes on top, that would push the U.S. rate up to the highest in the OECD at 48.4 percent. The House Democratic plan would push the U.S. rate up to 37 percent, or the third highest in the OECD.

The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it may start raising its benchmark interest rate sometime next year, earlier than it envisioned three months ago and a sign that it’s concerned that high inflation pressures may persist.

If Congress passes the vast reconciliation bill, voters will like what’s in it. That’s the Obamacare-like line some Democrats are taking as President Joe Biden steps up his campaign to pull the sprawling spending package across the finish line.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that, beginning this year, consumers will have an extra 30 days to…

WASHINGTON— America’ s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring and the clearest sign to date that the delta variant’ s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out. The August job growth the government reported Friday fell far short of the sizable gains of roughly 1 million…

In March 2021, the Department of the Treasury published the 2020 Financial Report of the United States Government. In the initial message, Secretary Janet L. Yellen writes:“ This Financial Report discusses not only current financial results but also important, long-term trends affecting our critical social insurance programs and fiscal health.” The report not…

WASHINGTON- With more than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi having lost power, Hurricane Ida is sure to take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast. But the impact on the overall U.S. economy will likely be modest so long as damage estimates don't rise sharply and refinery shutdowns are not…

Castle Brook Academy, one of the longest-running preschools in St. Augustine, has a capacity for 225 students. Today, there are nearly 250,000 fewer people in Florida's labor pool- the total of those employed and those looking for work- than there were when the pandemic struck in March 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the construction…

You can find the hiring signs everywhere. The current jobs opening rate is at its highest in more than 20 years, but there are still seven million fewer people employed now than before the pandemic, Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, told members of the North Carolina Economic Development Association on Wednesday.

–The Biden administration announced it will eliminate student loan debt payments for more than 300,000 Americans with severe disabilities, said Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security Disability Insurance representation services. “The decision to cancel student loan debt for individuals with disabilities is a significant development and past…

Republican campaign officials are licking their chops over Democrats voting for the package next week, which they say exposes vulnerable incumbents to charges of backing socialist policies and runaway spending that fuels inflation. Democrats also want to include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers who were brought…

—Federal Reserve officials last month discussed the idea of beginning to dial back their extraordinary support for the U.S. economy later this year, though they stopped short of a firm decision on a timetable. The minutes of the Fed's July 27-28 meeting, released Wednesday, indicated that the economic recovery from the pandemic recession was moving closer to…

WASHINGTON- President Joe Biden called on Congress to move his $3.5 trillion plan forward that would among other things, lower the cost of prescription drugs. “There aren't a lot of things that almost every American could agree on,” Biden said during a speech Thursday. “But I think it is safe to say that all of us, whatever our background or our age and where we live, could…

—Prices for U.S. consumers rose last month but at the slowest pace since February, a sign that Americans may gain some relief after four months of sharp increases that have imposed a financial burden on the nation's households. Wednesday’ s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices jumped 0.5% from June to July, down from the previous monthly…

Last week's monthly jobs report demonstrated the ongoing strength of the U.S. economy and underscored the need for the Federal Reserve to rein in its stimulus efforts, a Fed official said Tuesday. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said that Friday's report, which showed a healthy gain of 943,000 jobs last month, means the economy is making…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday evening that Democrats and Republicans had reached a deal on the bill, and the Senate passed the bill with a 69-30 vote just before noon. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have criticized the size, focus and funding of the package, citing a Congressional Budget Office report that said it would add $256 billion to…

Aug. 7— WASHINGTON— A trillion dollars goes a long way, and the trillion that a bipartisan group of senators wants to spend rebuilding America would rebuild parts of Buffalo in unexpected ways. An unprecedented sum of money could be spent cleaning up the Great Lakes and protecting their shorelines. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, wanted in terms of investment in…

WASHINGTON- U.S employers added 943,000 jobs in July and drove the unemployment rate down to 5.4% in another sign the economy is bouncing back with surprising vigor from COVID-19. “That is a definite downside risk,'' said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.” The Labor Department collected its data for the report in mid-July before the…

The U.S. economy added nearly 950,000 jobs during the month of July, the Labor Department said Friday in its monthly report– soundly beating expectations on Wall Street. The department said 943,000 positions were added for the month, and the national unemployment rate declined by a half-point to 5.4%. “These measures are down considerably from their highs at the…

Chairman Jerome Powell appears bent on risking 1970 s-style inflation to win favor with President Biden and a second term. Like the two World Wars, COVID-19 has radically changed the American economy. As offices reopen, New York and other cities face a crisis.

The move will let the Treasury pay bills incurred by the government without creating new debt for up to three months. Traditionally, the limit keeps the Treasury issuing new bonds to fund the government once a certain limit, which was $22 trillion in 2019, is hit. “The CBO projects that if the debt limit is not raised, the Treasury would probably run out of cash and be…

—Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession. Thursday’ s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’ s gross domestic product— its total output of goods and services— accelerated in the…

—President Joe Biden will be trying to connect with blue-collar workers Wednesday when he travels to a truck factory in Pennsylvania to advocate for government investments and clean energy as ways to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. The Democrat will tour the Lehigh Valley operations facility for Mack Trucks, a chance to touch base with the plant's 2,500…

Still, all sides— the White House, Republicans and Democrats— sounded upbeat that an accord was within reach as senators braced for a possible weekend session to finish the deal. It's a make-or-break moment that is testing the White House and Congress, and the outcome will set the stage for the next debate over Biden's much more ambitious $3.5 trillion spending…

Earlier today, the United States sold the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” which had previously been ordered to be forfeited as a substitute asset in connection with the approximately $7.4 million forfeiture money judgment entered against Martin Shkreli at his March 2018 sentencing.

Biden’ s reduced rating comes as the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant spreads and increases cases among unvaccinated Americans, and amid continued polarization, according to Gallup. Biden’ s overall performance during his term’ s first second quarter— an average of 53%— is still better than former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton during the…

—Senate Democrats accused Republicans Wednesday of a“ shameless, cynical” ploy that would damage the economy and the government's credit rating after the chamber's GOP leader said his party would vote against raising the federal debt limit. In the latest chapter of a broad budget battle likely to linger well into autumn, Democrats reacted after Senate…

Tensions were rising as Republicans prepared to mount a filibuster over what they see as a rushed and misguided process. With Biden preparing to hit the road to rally support for his big infrastructure ideas— including some $3.5 trillion in a follow-up bill— restless Democrats say it's time to at least start debate on this first phase of his proposals.

—President Joe Biden marked six months in office on Tuesday with a crowded Cabinet meeting, a gathering meant to symbolize both a return to normalcy due to vaccines and a display of the federal government doing the people’ s business. The Cabinet members were packed tightly around a table for their first full meeting in the Cabinet room, with a group of journalists…

President Biden said Monday that“ no serious economist” is worried about long-term inflation, ignoring the bipartisan warnings of economists including Democratic former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, as the president tried to shore up his crumbling case for $4 trillion in new infrastructure spending. But Mr. Biden insisted the spike in inflation is…

At the start of July, Politico reported that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell would probably be reappointed. Major news outlets are reporting that President Joe Biden is considering whether to install a new chairman when Powell's current term expires in February, and might even be leaning in that direction. It's understandable that Biden would want…

The payments are part of the American Rescue Plan, the comprehensive relief package that President Joe Biden signed in March. Middle-class families and families working to join the middle class are all eligible to receive the full credit of $3,600 per child under age 6, and up to $3,000 per child ages 6 through 17. Families will receive up to $250 a month for each…

WASHINGTON- Talkers both, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders stayed for an hour in the Oval Office, just two former rivals for the White House now acting as potential partners, negotiating a compromise both could live with. The president gave his full backing, according to a senior White House aide and another person familiar with the private session, who spoke on…

—President Joe Biden made a quick foray to the U.S. Capitol hunting support for his multitrillion-dollar agenda of infrastructure, health care and other programs, a potential landmark achievement that would require near-unanimous backing from fractious Democrats. The president spent just under an hour at a closed-door lunch with Democratic senators in…

Yesterday's release of June's US CPI data revealed that annualized inflation has jumped from 5% the previous month to 5.4% in June, which is the highest rate it has reached for 13 years. The consensus forecast before the release was expecting an annualized rate of only 4.9%. Clearly, the rebound from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 is…

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, R-Calif., recently introduced the Fair COLA for Seniors Act of 2021 to require Social Security to use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to calculate a “fairer cost of living adjustment” (COLA) for seniors.