Payroll Tax

The last question of Tuesday night's debate was the kind of query that tests the cleverness of an accomplished politician. It also - quite unexpectedly -- gave each candidate the opportunity to address one of Mitt Romney's worst moments of the campaign. That's because, curiously, Romney raised the issue himself. “What do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and a candidate?” asked undecided voter Barry Green. “Using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight?

Seniors will get a 1.7% increase in their monthly Social Security payments in 2013, one of the smallest cost-of-living adjustments since the automatic annual increase in benefits took effect in 1975. The Social Security Administration on Tuesday announced the 1.7% COLA, which is based on the rate of inflation. It is the sixth time since 1975 that the adjustment has been less than 2%. This year, retirees received a 3.6% increase after receiving no increase the previous two years.

A newly energetic and aggressive President Obama went directly after his Republican challenger from the first moment of their second debate to the last, attacking Mitt Romney's business record, his positions on issues and his truthfulness during a heated 90-minute encounter. “Gov. Romney says he's got a five-point plan. Gov. Romney doesn't have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan: Make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules,” Obama said during his answer to the debate's first question.

At this point, "the 47%" Mitt Romney disparaged as moochers in a private talk to a conservative crowd hardly need an introduction or even that much description. The statement has dogged the GOP presidential candidate, though President Obama did not bring it up in this week's debate. Romney, the day after the secretly recorded statements were revealed, acknowledged only that his wording had been inelegant but said he stood by the sentiment. Maybe he thought it was a minor campaign burp that would go away, or that he couldn't afford to be seen as even more of a mind-changer.

WASHINGTON -- Taking the country over the “fiscal cliff” would cost American households $3,500 in higher taxes next year, on average, if Congress and the White House fail to reach agreement to stop automatic rate changes, according to a report released Monday. Almost 90% of Americans would see their taxes rise through a combination of higher rates on incomes and investments, and the loss of certain tax breaks, including some enacted as part of President Obama's stimulus program that are set to expire.

WASHINGTON -- Many of the people criticized by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for not paying income taxes actually do pay taxes -- specifically the federal payroll tax, the independent Tax Policy Center said. And nearly half of those who do not pay federal income taxes are elderly, the group found in an analysis last year. About 46.4% of households paid no income tax in 2011, according to a breakdown by the center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A wild windstorm swept through here on Saturday, tossing broken tree limbs, downing power lines and forcing thousands of suburbanites to eat dinner by candlelight. On Sunday, with the skies sunny and mostly clear, the oppressive heat that hung on all summer was finally gone and the cooler air of approaching autumn turned the nation's capital into a pleasant place.  Then Monday arrived and with it came an infestation of congressmen and women. The lawmakers are taking a break from campaigning just long enough to make sure the government does not go broke by the end of the month.

WASHINGTON - The Congressional Budget Office, in a dire projection for the U.S. economy, warned that if lawmakers failed to act, the large-scale fiscal tightening set to occur next year will push the nation into a deeper downturn than previously thought and cause the unemployment rate to jump back up to about 9%. The nonpartisan CBO, in its semiannual budget outlook Wednesday, forecast that the economy would shrink 0.5% next year if lawmakers failed...

WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Budget Office issued new dire projections for the U.S. economy on Wednesday, warning that if lawmakers failed to act, the large-scale fiscal tightening set to occur next year will push the nation into a deeper downturn than previously thought and cause the unemployment rate to jump back up to about 9%. The nonpartisan CBO, in its semi-annual budget outlook, forecast that the economy would shrink 0.5% next year if...