The Latest

House Republican leaders say they could introduce legislation this week to extend the Social Security payroll tax holiday through the end of the year without offsetting the cost. The announcement Monday came after continued haggling between Democrats and Republicans over…

The nation’s largest private health insurer is launching a plan to move away from the traditional fee-for-service system that many analysts say bears much of the blame for excessive medical spending. (more…)

President Obama’s new budget calls for substantial tax reform, higher taxes on the wealthy, cuts in some programs and additional spending in others. The plan drew heavy criticism from Republicans and mixed reviews from The Concord Coalition and other non-partisan…

For the fourth time in four years, President Obama has tucked a little gem of a tax policy proposal into his budget: the proposal to limit the tax benefit of itemized deductions to 28 percent. It’s a great idea because…

Age 65 isn’t what it used to be, and longer life spans in the United States are expected to strain both government and private resources for supporting older Americans. That’s led to proposals to increase eligibility ages for some retirement…

A congressional conference committee resumes work today on legislation to extend unemployment benefits and a temporary cut in the payroll tax that provides funding for Social Security. Partisan differences – particularly on paying for the extensions -- led Congress late…

As Florida voters considered their options in the Republican presidential primary, a forum Thursday at Jacksonville University featured experts on the federal budget discussing some of the fiscal issues that should be on center stage in this year’s elections.Mel Martinez,…

With the new session of Congress getting under way, three members of a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission told Kansas City business leaders and others last week that a wide range of fiscal reforms deserves to be high on the legislative agenda.G.…