As expected, the House quickly approved the two-month extension of the Payroll Tax Cut in a pro forma session this morning presided over by Speaker Boehner himself: The House on Friday morning approved a bill extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance for two months, and also prevents a planned cut to reimbursements for [...]

Thanks to their own ineptitude, House Republicans suffered a big defeat this week. They totally deserved it.

It looks as though the Payroll Tax Cut Debate is reaching its expected conclusion. At least two media outlests are reporting that Speaker Boehner has agreed to sign on to the two-month extension of the Payroll Tax Cut passed by the Senate, leaving the issue of the one year extension to be dealt with in [...]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has set the House GOP adrift.

Some Republicans are starting to realize just how badly the House GOP has messed up this time.

The ongoing standoff over the Payroll Tax Cut is presenting President Obama with a political dilemma regarding the Christmas holidays: President Obama faces a most difficult decision with the payroll tax extension up in the air, and it isn’t whether to compromise with Republicans. The toughest call for the president this holiday season may be [...]

The House GOP doesn’t seem to have any idea what it’s doing right now.

With no great surprise, the House of Representatives has formally rejected the Senate bill that would extend the Payroll Tax cut for two months: With a tax hike looming for 160 million Americans on New Year’s Day, House Republicans rejected a Senate plan to extend the payroll tax holiday for two months and instead called [...]

The trade association representing companies that process payrolls for American businesses are telling Congress that the Senate’s two-month payroll tax cut extension may be impossible for them to implement correctly: Officials from the policy-neutral National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Inc. have expressed concern to members of Congress that the two-month payroll tax holiday passed by the [...]

Yesterday’s announcement by House Speaker John Boehner that the House GOP would not support the two-month extension of the Payroll Tax cut passed by the Senate has thrown Congress into chaos: Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid on Monday rejected a demand from House Speaker John A. Boehner to reopen negotiations on a measure to [...]

Apparently unable to reach a long term agreement, the Senate today passed an extension of the payroll tax cut that does nothing but kick this issue down the road about 45 days at the most: The Senate on Saturday morning approved a two-month extension of a payroll tax break and jobless benefits, easily passing a [...]

Social Security outlays are exceeding its income. Is that really a problem?

It may be resonating with some elements of the Tea Party movement, but Rick Perry’s rhetoric has Florida Republicans concerned: ORLANDO -Florida Republicans want the GOP presidential field to tread lightly on the subjects of Social Security and Medicare. Very, very lightly. Even in senior-heavy Florida, there is a willingness this cycle to talk about [...]

Rick Perry is the Republican frontrunner largely because he holds views that are widely supported within the party. Those same views could pose a real problem for him in the General Election, though: In a hypothetical general election matchup, Perry trails President Barack Obama among the poll’s entire sample, 49 percent to 40 percent, about [...]

It’s only one poll, and conservatives will dismiss it because it comes from a “Democratic” polling firm (although I’d note that said firm had a higher accuracy rate in 2010 than many media polls, and far higher than Rasmussen). However, Public Policy Polling is out with a new poll that shows the first signs that [...]

If the new CNN/ORC poll is any indication, Rick Perry is a bit out of step with the public when it comes to Social Security: Tampa, Florida (CNN) – Most Americans believe the Social Security system needs major changes but they disagree with the characterization of Social Security as a lie and a failure, according [...]

The Texas Governor was taking it from all sides at last night’s Tea Party Debate.

In five days, Rick Perry has gone from calling Social Security a “monstrous lie” to saying we need to have a conversation about fixing it.

Byron York is reporting today that tomorrow’s Republican debate in Florida is likely to see Michele Bachmann hitting Rick Perry big time over his stance on Social Security: Mitt Romney and his advisers have been pushing hard against Rick Perry over the Texas governor’s description of Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme.”  Now, another Republican [...]

Mitt Romney isn’t the only Republican Presidential candidate who apparently sees Rick Perry’s “Ponzi Scheme” rhetoric about Social Security as a problem for the GOP. He was joined yesterday by two candidates to his right who were clearly eager to distance themselves from Perry. First, Michelle Bachmann told Radio Iowa’s O.K. Henderson that candidates needed [...]

Whether it’s a “Ponzi Scheme” or not, Social Security has serious systemic problems that must be addressed.

Rick Perry took a stroll down the third rail of American politics last night.

Rick Perry’s big mistake may have been putting his opinions about Social Security on paper.

Rick Perry placed his cowboy boots firmly on the third rail of American politics.

Rubio may be wowing conservatives audience, but is his rhetoric grounded in reality?

The immediate reaction among the political class to the debt downgrade was the play the same old stupid games.

Stephen Green makes this observation: On Fox News Sunday, Mitch McConnell dropped a bit of trivia we don’t think of very often — but it’s still all too true. That is, “We don’t vote on 60% of the budget.” Congress doesn’t have a say over nearly two-thirds of all spending — that’s entitlements and interest [...]

CBS News is out with a preview of an interview with President Obama that will air tonight in which the President states the government may not be able to make Social Security payments after August 2nd if the debt ceiling isn’t increased: President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their [...]

A new Pew Research Poll shows that the American public continues to remain strongly supportive of entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, and opposed to any changes that would result in benefit cuts: On the broad question of whether it is more important to reduce the budget deficit or to maintain current Medicare and [...]

What exactly is the GOP trying to accomplish in the debt ceiling negotiations?

House and Senate Republicans are pushing a Balanced Budget Amendment. It sounds like a good idea, but it isn’t.

Washington is looking at the budget talk in Washington, and it doesn’t like what it sees: (Reuters) – A majority of top Wall Street bond dealers and money managers say spending cuts alone cannot solve the U.S. budget problems and tax increases must be part of the mix. In a Reuters survey conducted on Tuesday, [...]

Paul Ryan unveiled an ambitious plan to cut the deficit today. The question is whether it will be the beginning of a debate, or an opportunity for Democratic demagoguery

Republicans are about to take a walk along the third-rail of American politics.

The Social Security “trust fund” may actually be worse than worthless.

You don’t have to be Admiral Akbar to suspect that the President’s refusal to deal with entitlements in his budget proposal is a trap for the GOP.

President Obama’s new budget involves nothing less than a thumb in the eye of anyone who hoped he would seriously address federal spending in his first term.

The American public still has a totally unrealistic view of what it will take to get the Federal Government’s fiscal house in order.

Compromise in politics involves more than compromising one’s principles.

A new poll about the proposals coming out of the Deficit Commission makes it clear that the American public needs to grow up.

Here’s my plan for creating a budget surplus of $126 billion by 2015 and $592 billion by 2030.

Anyone expecting the GOP to propose serious reform to entitlement spending to soothe the Tea Party movement is simply deluding themselves. Here’s why: Voters over 65 favored Republicans last week by a 21-point margin after flirting with Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections and favoring John McCain by a relatively narrow 8-point margin in 2008. [...]

They’ve won the elections, but Republicans still aren’t getting specific about exactly where they’d cut Federal spending.

While Social Security has radically lowered the elderly poverty rate, it hasn’t eliminated it. Should we do more?

The CBO sees a clear threat of a fiscal crisis during the next two decades unless we’re saved by magic ponies.

The House GOP Leader is proposing that we get serious about Social Security reform.

Alex Lawson of Social Security Works has apparently been stalking the White House Debt Commission with a video camera.  He got an earful from co-chairman Alan Simpson. The more interesting parts of a long exchange: ALAN SIMPSON:  We’re really working on solvency… the key is solvency ALEX LAWSON: What about adequacy? Are you focusing on [...]

Via the BBC:  French raise retirement age to 62: France’s retirement age will be raised from 60 to 62 over the next eight years as part of sweeping pension reforms, the government has announced. […] As well as raising the retirement age to 62, the planned reforms will also require employees to work for a [...]

The New York Times has an interesting multiple choice question regarding how to spend money to help stimulate the economy, If you wanted to help the economy and you had $14 billion to bestow on any group of people, which group would you choose: a) Teenagers and young adults, who have an 18 percent unemployment [...]

Tyler Cowen has three health care fallacies and the first one is something I’ve mentioned before (and tooke quite a bit of heat for), Today’s report is this: The financial outlook for Medicare and Social Security has significantly worsened, as the bad economy and mounting job losses have pushed both programs years closer to insolvency, [...]