Budget Matters Blog

Category: Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net

Budget Brief: Proposed Payroll Tax Cut Extension

By
Posted: | Budget Process, Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net

In the latest installment of our weekly Budget Brief videos, senior research analyst Chris Hellman explains the payroll tax cuts enacted last year, the proposed extension of these cuts into 2012, and the debate over how to pay for them.

Data Story: Food Insecurity and Food Stamps

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

Between 2008 and 2010, the percentage of food insecure households remained flat at 14.5% while the amount of money the federal government spent on the food stamp program rose 83%.

New Data: Food Insecurity

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

We've added a new indicator. Food insecurity: households with difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all members.

Data Story: Volusia County, FL

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

This week's data story is inspired by an activist from Daytona Beach, Florida

Updated Data: 38 Expenditures

By
Posted: | Education, Health Care, Military & Security, Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

38 datasets have been updated to reflect yesterday's release of the FY 2010 Consolidated Federal Funds Report, which tracks federal government expenditures or obligations.

Updated Data: Poverty

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

The people, children, and families in poverty datasets are now current through 2010 and reflect the latest American Community Survey (ACS) findings.

Data Story: WIC Benefits and Participation

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

Our new featured data story is WIC benefits and participation.

Deficit Reduction or Class Warfare?

By
Posted: | Budget Process, Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net

Obama's speech in the Rose Garden on Monday outlined his proposal to control deficit spending, which features the “Buffet Rule” to ensure that households earning over $1 million do not pay a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans. Critics of Obama's plan called this class warfare. But in today's flagging ...

New Data: County Unemployment

By
Posted: | Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

Our unemployment data is now available at the county level as well as the state level.

The Scoop on the American Jobs Act of 2011

By
Posted: | Budget Process, Debt & Deficit, Education, Health Care, Military & Security, Social Insurance, Earned Benefits, & Safety Net, Transparency & Data

President Obama presented the American Jobs Act of 2011 on September 8th and sent it to Congress on September 12th. Want to know what it's all about? Here’s the rundown. How does it help… the unemployed? It makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against unemployed job applicants because of ...