3:35pm: Federal deficits are expected to fall over the next few years but then start to climb, the Congressional Budget Office says. More
Lawmakers still haven't garnered enough support for either a 1-year extension or even a two-month stopgap. Here's what's on the line for your wallet and the economy.
Once again, lawmakers are at odds over cuts with time running out. At issue: Payroll taxes, jobless benefits and fees to Medicare doctors.
The bitter divide between Democrats and Republicans over taxing the rich is still playing out in the payroll tax cut fight - and will continue to on the campaign trail.
A deal to extend the payroll tax cut extension before Dec. 31 is expected. But it's still not clear how Democrats and Republicans, with very different ideas of how to pay for the extension, will forge a compromise.
The debate over extending the payroll tax holiday has focused mostly on its economic effects and cost. But less attention has been paid to its potential effects on the Social Security trust fund.
Senate Democrats and Republicans have managed to agree on at least two ways to help pay for the payroll tax cut. They both involve millionaires and are among the least effective ways to pay for anything.
It's likely, but not guaranteed, that Congress will pass some form of a payroll tax cut for 2012. Here's how lawmakers' ultimate decision could impact your wallet and the economy.
GOP plan would extend the cut as is and reduce deficits by an estimated $111 billion by shrinking the federal workforce, freezing pay and asking millionaires to pay higher Medicare premiums.
Congress faces decisions on a bevy of expiring measures, including the popular payroll tax cut. But it will be hard for lawmakers to agree on how to pay for them. So hard, in fact, they may just decide not to.
Congress and President Obama must not follow the super committee down the path to failure on national debt reduction. They have time to get it right. But they must engage the public because Americans care about the issue.
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