Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The agreement reached between the White House and Congress doesn't address spending cuts and leaves another potential debt limit showdown on the table. It also increases taxes on income over $400,000. Is this a deal that works for you?
After a marathon holiday negotiation session, after grumbling by liberal senators and after a near-revolt by conservative representatives, the fiscal cliff deal was approved by the House of Representatives late Tuesday night. The bargain will increase taxes on income above $450,000 for families, increase capital gains taxes, permanently fix the alternative minimum tax, change the estate tax and provide some changes in deductions. It also will extend unemployment benefits, earned income tax credits and other tax breaks for the working class. The Washington Post has a cheat sheet with all of the details. Middle class taxpayers will still see a smaller paycheck in 2013; The payroll tax cut was not preserved as part of the fiscal cliff deal. …
Frank told WBUR the deal was "the best we could get."
Updated 11:11 a.m. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a deal late Tuesday to ease portions of the so-called "fiscal cliff," according to the Huffington Post. The compromise was approved by the Senate at 2 a.m. Tuesday, and despite talk of rejecting it, the House ultimately passed the bill by a vote of 257 to 167. The entire Mass. delegation voted for the deal, including retiring Congressman Barney Frank, D-Newton. He was on WBUR earlier today to speak about the deal. "The deal that we have is not good from my standpoint, but it's the best we could get," Frank said in an interview with WBUR. Sens. John Kerry, D-MA, and Scott Brown, R-MA, both supported the measure in the Senate. "Just voted for the fiscal cliff bill," Brown said on …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
President, Congress have just a few days to avert automatic tax increases and spending cuts. A number of Massachusetts Congressman suggest cutting nuclear programs instead.
Starbucks baristas are writing "come together" on all cups in the Washington, DC, area to encourage Congress and the President to come together to fix the fiscal cliff issue. For more information about this initiative, go to www.patch.com/fixthedebt. Congress and President Obama are racing against the clock this week as they make one last attempt to hammer out a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is set to go over on New Year’s Day. Without a compromise deal to lower the deficit, the government will face a self-imposed deadline that triggers both spending cuts and higher taxes. Congress itself set the Jan. 1 deadline after failing to come to a budget compromise earlier this year. On Jan. 1, the George W. Bush-…
Friday, December 7, 2012
Gov. Deval Patrick has announced plans to cut the state's local aid for the current fiscal year. But what does that mean for Newton?
Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday announced plans to close a $540 million state budget deficit through a combination of cuts and transfers from the state's "rainy day" fund. The proposed cuts, some of which require the approval of the legislature, would reduce the state's planned aid to Newton in the current fiscal year, fiscal 2013. Starting with unrestricted local aid, Newton would see a cut if Patrick moves forward with a proposed 1 percent reduction in the state's unrestricted local aid, which "funds municipal services including police and fire protection, parks, and public works," according to the state budget center. This cut would require approval by the legislature. In Newton, the $313 million fiscal 2013 budget includes about $4.9 …
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Massachusetts Democrats in Congress want to avoid cuts in benefits as part of any deal, but proposals such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare are still on the table. What would you do?
As Congress negotiates a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1, Massachusetts' congressional representatives have voiced their opposition to any cuts in benefits such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the Boston Globe reports. However, there are proposals still on the table that would change those benefit programs, including linking Social Security benefits to a more conservative inflation index that would slightly reduce annual increases, or raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. The Globe reported that while the Bay State's legislators were united against changes to Social Security, there's some wiggle room on Medicare. Rep. Ed Markey opposes raising the Medicare eligibility age; Rep. Michael …
Mark Golden
9:18 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
If I waited until the last moment to do what I had YEARS to do, I would loose my job. Especially if I finally did what I had to do and in all reality, did not do anything other than extend the "problem". Being a proud liberal, I naturally feel that it was the Republicans who were at fault. But where were the Dems while we all waited for this to be taken care of? As far as I am concerned, ALL of … more ›