Social Security

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

Eying Deficit, Obama Plans $447B Freeze
Eying Deficit, Obama Plans $447B Freeze
STATE OF THE UNION PREVIEW
Jan 25, 2010 8:09 PM CST

Eying Deficit, Obama Plans $447B Freeze

17% of US budget affected, not including defense, entitlements

(Newser) - The latest detail to trickle out about initiatives President Obama plans to serve up in Wednesday’s State of the Union address is one aimed at cutting the $1.4 trillion federal budget deficit. Obama will announce a 3-year freeze on $447 billion in spending, a measure that could save...

Vegas Shooter Enraged Over Social Security Cutback

Claimed he'd been racially discriminated against

(Newser) - Police have identified the culprit in yesterday’s Las Vegas courthouse shootout as Johnny Lee Wicks, a black 66-year-old retiree who, they believe, was enraged over a recent Social Security dispute. When Wicks moved from California to Nevada in January 2008, his Social Security check shrank, because he lost a...

Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma
Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma
David Leonhardt
Oct 28, 2009 8:35 AM CDT

Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma

To cut deficit, we have to cut benefits to seniors

(Newser) - Economists are none too impressed with Barack Obama's proposal to send each senior a cool $250, and David Leonhardt can see why. The over-65 set has weathered the recession better than anyone—many of them purchased real estate well before the housing bubble burst, and few work in the most-battered...

Obama's Stealth Stimulus: $250 Checks to Seniors

With social security stagnant, Obama proposes payment to elderly

(Newser) - Seniors won’t be getting a boost in their Social Security benefits this January, but President Obama tried to head off that announcement yesterday by encouraging Congress to give them all a one-time $250 check. The administration sees these payments, which would cost the government about $13 billion, as another...

Over a Lifetime, Being a Gay Couple Can Cost $470K Extra

Detailed analysis takes health insurance, taxes, other benefits into account

(Newser) - An exhaustive analysis of the lifetime costs a committed gay couple faces compared to those of a heterosexual marriage finds that, in the worst case, the gay couple pays out nearly $470,000 extra. The study by the New York Times assumed the couples were together until one partner died,...

Social Security Faces Grim Forecast for 2010, 2011

Payouts will exceed tax receipts for first time since 1980s

(Newser) - Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next 2 years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s. The deficits—$10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in...

Mr. President, Stop Picking On 'Bureaucrats'
Mr. President, Stop Picking On 'Bureaucrats'
OPINION
Sep 12, 2009 12:55 PM CDT

Mr. President, Stop Picking On 'Bureaucrats'

What happened to making government 'cool' again?

(Newser) - In his admirable quest to make government work for the people, President Obama has stooped to the lowest common denominator and vilified “bureaucrats,” writes Max Stier in the Washington Post. A typical shot from the president recently: “I don't want government bureaucrats meddling in your health care....

'Pull the Plug on Grandma'? That's GOP Policy
'Pull the Plug on Grandma'? That's GOP Policy
analysis
Aug 30, 2009 5:20 PM CDT

'Pull the Plug on Grandma'? That's GOP Policy

Republicans, not Obama, willing to let elderly die off: Weisberg

(Newser) - Chuck Grassley’s warning that Obamacare will “pull the plug on Grandma” has become a rallying cry for the GOP’s anti–health reform efforts. But looking at past policies, it’s the GOP that's out to get grandma, Jacob Weisberg writes in Newsweek. A wide range of Republican...

IRS May Cut 401(k) Contribution Limit

(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...

Millions Face Shrinking Social Security Payments

(Newser) - Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next 2 years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases...

On Health Care, Left Should Cut Deals
 On Health Care, Left 
 Should Cut Deals 
OPINION
Aug 13, 2009 7:43 AM CDT

On Health Care, Left Should Cut Deals

(Newser) - Presidents from FDR to Nixon to Clinton tried and failed to reform the health care system, but with Barack Obama closer than ever before, the left is already blasting him for compromising too much. That's a shame, writes Clinton strategist Paul Begala, who regrets "setting the bar at 100%"...

Tax Revenue Takes Biggest Dive Since Great Depression

(Newser) - US tax revenue is set to shrink 18% from last fiscal year to the current one, ending in October—the largest falloff since 1932, the AP reports. Individual income-tax receipts are off 22%, and corporate revenues have sunk an astounding 57%. “Our tax system is already inadequate to support...

Social Security Suffers as Execs' Pay Soars

Top-paid workers get a third of total US pay

(Newser) - Executives and other employees earning top dollar pull in more than a third of all US pay, the Wall Street Journal finds—and the ceiling on compensation subject to payroll taxes hasn’t risen enough accordingly, meaning the government isn’t bringing in what’s needed to plug ever-growing holes...

Social Security Numbers Guessable From Public Data

Available birth info can ease identity theft

(Newser) - Social Security numbers can be predicted, making them unfit to be “authentication devices” amid increasing worry over identity theft, researchers warn the Washington Post. Knowing a person’s birthday and birthplace can point the way to the first five digits, a study finds. “If they are predictable from...

Social Security, Medicare Going Broke? Terrific!

(Newser) - Social Security and Medicare are headed toward disaster, and that’s a good thing, Robert J. Samuelson writes in Newsweek. The programs are expected to run out of money by 2017 and 2037, respectively, and when they do, politicians will have to make painful, necessary reforms. “The counterintuitive lesson:...

Early Retirees Face Shaky Financial Future

Bucking poll, older workers ditch work in tough economy

(Newser) - A growing number of older US  workers are bucking expectations and retiring early, risking financial hardship in their senior years, the Los Angeles Times reports. Instead of staving off retirement to rebuild diminished nest eggs, many older Americans, frustrated by the job market, are simply calling it quits. Add aging...

Social Security Easily Fixed; Medicare Is Another 'Monster'

Worry about that, not easy-to-fix social security: Reich

(Newser) - After yesterday’s news that Social Security and Medicare funds will run out of money earlier than previously predicted, it’s the latter that should really scare us, former Labor secretary Robert Reich writes for Salon. A slight tax tweak fixes Social Security, but “Medicare is entirely different. It’...

Medicare, Social Security Will Go Bust Sooner

(Newser) - The recession has hurt the already-shaky finances of Medicare and Social Security, the Washington Post reports. Medicare is now projected to run out of money in 2017, two years earlier than the last projection. Social Security, meanwhile, is expected to be insolvent in 2037, four years earlier. The annual report...

'I'm Only 11 Years Old, and I Have Bad Credit'

Florida thief uses pre-teen's identity to buy home, cars

(Newser) - While 11-year-old Jake LeGette was saving the money he earned mowing lawns, a Florida woman was busy using his Social Security number to splurge on a house and nine cars, ABC News reports. Jake and his mother, a Miami-area police officer, discovered the ID theft after trying to open a...

Obama Vows Social Security, Medicare Reform
Obama Vows Social Security, Medicare Reform
Interview
Jan 16, 2009 8:05 AM CST

Obama Vows Social Security, Medicare Reform

Will hold summit to hash out ways to rein in spending

(Newser) - Barack Obama promised major overhauls for the country’s ever-growing entitlement programs yesterday in a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Post. We have “kicked this can down the road,” Obama said. “We are now at the end of the road.” Obama will hold a “fiscal...

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser