WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress’ failure to pass a 2011 defense budget bill is jeopardizing the military’s effort to send more surveillance and attack drones into Afghanistan, as well as stymieing plans to buy a new Navy submarine, Army combat helicopters and other major weapons systems, defense leaders say. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers could face higher taxes in 2014 under an Obama administration budget proposal designed to help states hard hit by the recession and the weak recovery to refill their unemployment insurance funds and repay money borrowed from the federal government. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are eyeing reclaiming hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. contributions to the United Nations in a vote slated for next week. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Far from slowing, the government’s deficit spending will surge to a record $1.5 trillion this year, congressional budget experts estimated, blaming the slow economic recovery and last month’s extension of Bush-era tax cuts. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer confidence hit an eight-month high in January. The increase suggests the rising spirits that fueled a holiday shopping boom are carrying over into the new year as people feel better about the job market. (more)
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Legislature on Thursday authorized Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to seek a federal waiver allowing the cash-short state to temporarily remove nearly 300,000 people from its Medicaid rolls in the first such request by a state. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2012, says he opposes raising the nation’s debt ceiling and is urging Republicans in Congress to do the same. (more)
NEW YORK (AP) — Low-income taxpayers who don’t have bank accounts will be able to get their tax refunds this year on prepaid debit cards supplied by the government, the Treasury Department said Thursday. (more)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn defended a massive increase in state income taxes passed by lawmakers Wednesday and promised to quickly sign the measure to help heal the state’s ailing finances. (more)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn defended a massive increase in state income taxes passed by lawmakers Wednesday and promised to quickly sign the measure to help heal the state’s ailing finances. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a more optimistic view of the U.S. economy Friday but said the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program is needed because unemployment will likely stay elevated for up to five more years. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cut spending, raise taxes and fees, and accept billions of dollars from Congress. That’s been the formula for states trying to survive the worst economy since the 1930s. (more)
MOGOSOIA, Romania (AP) — Everyone curses the tax man, but Romanian witches angry about having to pay up for the first time are planning to use cat excrement and dead dogs to cast spells on the president and government. (more)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California’s 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more troubled state than the one he led then. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top White House economic adviser is warning against what he calls “playing chicken” with the need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. (more)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger landed in the governor’s office after announcing his upstart bid on late night TV and railing against government spending during raucous campaign rallies — at one playing a spirited round of air guitar to the rock anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from tax cuts for millionaires and the middle class to longer-term help for the jobless. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate passes measure preventing tax hike for millions of Americans, sending bill to House (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A growing chorus of conservative criticism is prompting some House members to rethink the $850 billion package of tax cuts and extended jobless benefits that President Barack Obama negotiated with top Republicans in Congress. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The spending barons on Capitol Hill, long used to muscling past opponents of bills larded with pet projects, are seeking one last victory before tea party-backed GOP insurgents storm Congress intent on ending the good old days of pork-barrel politics. (more)
