Social Security and Medicare Cuts Are Coming, Whether Politicians Do It or Not
As legislators refuse to act, benefits will be cut without any possibility of sheltering those seniors who are poor.
Treasury
The GOP's Current Plan To Cut Spending Is a Political Failure
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are still the chief drivers of our future debt. But Republicans aren't touching them.
To Win the Speakership, Kevin McCarthy Had To Promise To Cut Spending. Good.
While some Republicans may have had misguided motivations, a few disrupted McCarthy's campaign in order to enact fiscal restraint. Their colleagues were fine with business as usual.
Democrats May Regret Compromising Taxpayer Privacy To Get Trump
The release of the former president’s tax returns sets a dangerous precedent.
The Annual, Depressing 'Do Your Job Week' in Congress
Plus: The editors extend the discussion on the lack of immigration reform in this week’s bill.
November's $249 Billion Federal Budget Deficit Set a Record. Now, Congress Is Preparing To Spend Even More.
The government spent $501 billion in November but collected just $252 billion in revenue, meaning that about 50 cents of every dollar spent were borrowed.
Governments Scramble To Manage, Regulate, and Throttle Crypto
Most dangerously of all, they're starting to make their own central bank digital currencies.
A GOP-Led Congress May Focus on Owning the Libs. Instead, It Should Focus on Owning Inflation.
If the midterms favor Republicans, their top priority needs to be the fight against inflation—whether or not they feel like they created the problem.
This Election Day, Listen to the Betting Market Instead of Pundit Predictions
Over time, betting has been a better predictor than polls, pundits, statistical models, and everything else.
Activist Groups Demand Feds Require Nutrition Labels on Booze
Plaintiffs want the nanny state to nanny harder.
Here's Why Biden Is Wrong About the Deficit
His administration has expanded deficits by $400 billion more than expected, even before we count recent spending.
IRS Sent $1.1 Billion in Child Welfare Payments to the Wrong People
Possibly the federal government's most efficient pandemic spending effort.
Biden's Student Debt Relief Plan Will Worsen Inflation
"Student loan relief would lead some people to spend more," warns Obama economic advisor and Harvard economist Jason Furman
The Tornado Cash Crackdown Is an Attack on Speech and Privacy
For the first time ever, the Treasury Department has sanctioned not a person or a group but a digital tool and all who would use it.
A Wonky Evisceration of Biden's Bad Deficit Math
Interest rates and servicing costs could push us into worrisome territory sooner than we think.
Social Security Is Running Toward Insolvency
Despite a few encouraging analyses, the numbers just don't add up.
One Year Later, No One Has Been Punished for the IRS Leak of Billionaires' Tax Data
The IRS isn’t just a powerful federal agency, it’s a weapon against the public.
A Global Tax Cartel Would Be as Bad as It Sounds
Several studies have found that the vast majority of costs incurred by increased corporate taxes are passed along to workers in the form of lower wages.
Americans Want Change. Private Mints Are the Solution.
Congress should stop preventing the private sector from making its own coins.
Blame Insane Government Spending for Inflation
Some want to solve the problem with subsidies for gas, housing, child care, and more. That only risks greater stagnation.
Biden Has His Eye on Bitcoin
The president's anticipated executive order stopped short of feared regulations but suggests federal unease with uncontrolled development.
Our Insane Government Spending Will Hurt Our Response to Ukraine
We must face the reality that the debt does matter.
Biden's Antitrust Crusade Targets Alcohol
The alcohol sector has seen more than 6,000 new entrants, but the Treasury still thinks it has an antitrust problem.
Don't Blame 'Greedy Corporations' for Inflation. Blame the Government.
"Greed is constant. If it's greed, how do we explain prices falling?"
No, the United States Has Not Always Paid Its Debts
There are five instances of the Treasury defaulting on the debt.
Biden's Nominee for Comptroller Wants To Put an 'End to Banking as We Know It'
The pick lends ammunition to those who have warned of a slippery slope toward socialism.
Democrats' Proposed 'Billionaire Tax' Is Definitely a Wealth Tax, and It May Be Unconstitutional
Imposing a wealth tax may not even be among the enumerated powers of Congress.
Governments Want To Control Crypto So They Can Control Us
The push for central bank digital currencies is an assault on privacy and freedom.
Biden's Plan To Crack Down on Tax Cheating: Snooping on Everyone's Bank Accounts
The president says the IRS needs just two bits of information: all the money that goes into your bank account, and all the money that comes out.
Biden's Total Financial Surveillance
What if every one of your noncash financial transactions was automatically reported to a beefed-up, audit-hungry IRS?
Why Does Janet Yellen Suddenly Sound Like Trump on Trade?
In comments to The New York Times Magazine published this week, the new treasury secretary says free trade has been "so negative" for "a large share of the population." That's just wrong.
Feds Propose Even More Surveillance of Your Banking Habits
By lowering the “travel rule” threshold to $250, the government could access more of our financial data.
The #FinCENFiles Shine a Spotlight on How Banks Are Ordered to Snoop on You
Why does media coverage conclude the problem is that the government hasn’t done a good enough job of spying?
'CARES' Package Part Two Is Coming, to the Tune of at Least $1 Trillion
Plus: Gun groups for black Americans are growing, a promising new study on opening schools, and more...
The Feds Sent More than 1 Million Coronavirus Stimulus Payments to Dead People, GAO Says
As much as $1.4 billion might have been paid to deceased Americans. The IRS says that money must be returned.
The Paycheck Protection Program for Small Businesses Will Run Out of Money Today
The $349 billion loan program is meant to help small companies hit hard by social distancing.
4 Reasons Small Businesses Are Struggling With the Paycheck Protection Program
Unclear terms, unrealistic loan forgiveness, a site unprepared for launch, and a bottomless demand for cash
Federal Tax Deadline Extended Until July 15
The extension allows some individuals and businesses to keep more of their money for three extra months at a time when millions of Americans are likely to be out of work and struggling to make ends meet.
Trump Administration Swears Proposed Hotel, Airline, Cruise Bailout Is Totally Not a Bailout
Actually, it's a bailout.
Washington's Recent Fiscal Recklessness Will Look Even Worse if America Is Heading Into a Recession
Plus: Fashion versus the police state, a truce in the Kansas-Missouri border war, and more....
Trump Administration Labels China a 'Currency Manipulator' After China Briefly Stops Manipulating Its Currency
Don't worry about China's currency manipulation. It only hurts China's own people, and benefits American consumers and businesses.
The Escalating Trade War Is Bad News for Pretty Much Everyone
Stocks plunge as China cuts off purchases of American agricultural goods, U.S. responds by labeling China a "currency manipulator" because the Chinese government is no longer artificially propping up the yuan.
The Treasury Department Is Entrenching Trump's Nonsense View of Trade Deficits
In a new report, the Treasury Department declares it will begin scrutinizing any nation that runs a bilateral trade imbalance of more than $40 billion with the United States
Government Shutdown Means No New Beers, Because No Bureaucrats Are Working To Approve New Beer Labels
Why do we need the government to do that in the first place?
Here's What You Could Buy With June's Federal Budget Deficit
Of course, June's deficit represents just a small fraction of our overall national debt.
Feds' Rules Tell Cider Makers to Shut Up About Vintage Years on Labels
Producers prohibited from sharing information with consumers about the year their apples were harvested.
Eminent Domain Critic, Ayn Rand Superfan, Former Cato CEO John Allison Could Run Trump's Treasury
Allison wants to repeal all Dodd-Frank regulations, which didn't fix the problem of banks being "too big to fail."
Rep. Steve King Tries (and Fails) To Keep Harriet Tubman Off $20 Bill
The Iowa congressman called the move to replace Andrew Jackson "liberal activism" on the part of President Obama.