What's a 'tax expenditure'? We decode a controversial budget term

Apr 26, 2013
Tax breaks like the home mortgage deduction confer financial benefits, and some argue they're part of the government safety net.

What does 'welfare' mean to you?

Apr 24, 2013
'Welfare' used to simply mean 'well-being'. These days it often has negative connotations and multiple meanings.

What we mean by 'entitlement'? Well, that depends...

Apr 22, 2013
'Entitlement' has almost contradictory meanings in casual conversation - and also, depending on your views, in political discourse about the social safety net

How did the social safety net get its name?

Apr 2, 2013
How did that phrase -- the safety net-- become a household term for social programs in the first place?

Flying with a net, literal and figurative

Mar 26, 2013
Our reporter learns to fly on a trapeze -- and gets a crash course in safety nets, both real and metaphoric.

Show me your (real and metaphoric) safety net

Mar 26, 2013
One woman's definition of a safety net: Something that lets you take risks, from going to school to flying from a trapeze.

Ryan says private sector key to ending high poverty

Oct 24, 2012
VP candidate says businesses can grow jobs and private donations can displace the safety net.

For public good, not for profit.