WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 05: U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) scratches his head … [+] in the House Chamber. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Getty Images Terry Savage and I are collecting Social Security horror stories and posting them at my substack site, larrykotlikoff.substack.com. Sign up for free and take a read. If…
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 18: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022 … [+] in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Former IRS Commissioner David Kautter, now with RSM, discusses the recently released report on the feasibility of an IRS-run…
Getty Images Key takeaways There’s an agreement in principle in place between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy Neither Republicans or Democrats are happy – the deal needs to pass through the Congress and the Senate, so it’s not set in stone The markets are surprisingly blasé about the crisis, futures are all up on Tuesday…
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 22: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in … [+] the Oval Office of the White House on May 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. Biden and McCarthy were meeting to discuss raising the debt limit in an effort to avoid a default by the federal government.…
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Getty Images Key Takeaways White House officials and lawmakers have reached a deal in principle to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid default The deal, which still has to pass in Congress, raises the debt ceiling and introduces spending cuts Coming this close to the brink of a US…
The view of a ceiling from below. getty How can the debt ceiling bind? As I discussed in an earlier Forbes article, the deficit is the annual difference between Federal government spending and tax revenue (if there is more revenue than spending, there is a surplus). The debt is the total of all deficits since…
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) walks through National Statuary … [+] Hall as he returns to his office from the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty…
Illustration map of Palmyra atoll. Palmyra atoll is considered the only “incorporated territory” of … [+] the United States. Brian Swanson believes that Puerto Rico should also have that status. getty Last week I told you about alternative tax thinker Brian Swanson. Others might call Brian a tax protester, which is how Wikipedia refers to…
getty Congress expanded a tax trap for many owners of traditional IRA and 401(k) accounts when the SECURE Act 2.0 was enacted in December 2022. The law delayed the starting age for required minimum distributions (RMDs) to age 73, effective January 1, 2023. The starting age will jump to 75 effective January 1, 2033. If…
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen shows concern. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty Images She was at it again just the other day. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was issuing warnings to the American people of the approach of Washington’s debt ceiling. As before when speaking on this subject, she suggested that the constraints…