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How corporate lobbying changed the 2017 tax overhaul

Jan 3, 2020
Corporate lobbyists won big under the Treasury Department's rules and regulations to implement the bill.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin in 2017.
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The budget deficit last topped $1 trillion in 2012, a very different time

Sep 13, 2019
Back then, the economy was struggling its way out of recession. Now? Not so much.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday the government deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time in seven years. Above, the Treasury Department building in Washington, D.C.
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How tax cuts get "paid for"

Jul 11, 2019
Can a tax cut pay for itself? We dive into the language used by the president's chief economic adviser.
Who paid for the beer?
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Oxfam says tax cuts have benefited the rich

Jan 21, 2019
Oxfam, the international anti-poverty organization, released a report Friday on how the world’s billionaires and poor people are doing economically. And the short answer is: the former are up while the latter are down. Oxfam crunched the income and wealth numbers based on data from Forbes’ annual billionaires list and Credit Suisse’s “Wealth Databook.” The […]

IRS releases final rules on deductions for "pass-through" businesses

Jan 18, 2019
You won't find a lot of simple yes-and-no answers in the 247-page document.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

What business investment says about our economy's future

Nov 28, 2018
After the tax law passed last year, Republicans argued that companies would take their tax savings and make big investments in themselves — plants, equipment, trucks, that sort of thing. But over the last year, there are signs that business investment is slowing. GM’s plans to shut down five plants are just the latest example. Economists […]

As corporate earnings season rolls on, winners and losers emerge

Tariffs are costing some companies plenty. Others are immune, at least for now, and benefiting from tax cuts.
“We have the highest prices in the world right now for aluminum and steel,” said Kristin Dziczek, a vice president at the Center for Automotive Research. Above, Ford Mustangs are assembled at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, in 2004.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

As corporate earnings season rolls on, winners and losers emerge

Tariffs are costing some companies plenty. Others are immune, at least for now, and benefiting from tax cuts.
“We have the highest prices in the world right now for aluminum and steel,” said Kristin Dziczek, a vice president at the Center for Automotive Research. Above, Ford Mustangs are assembled at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, in 2004.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

About those tax cuts that are supposed to pay for themselves

Oct 18, 2018
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the budget deficit, which, at last count, is up 17 percent over last year. That’s what happens when the government spends $779 billion more than it collects in revenue, also known as taxes. Seems we’re paying the price for one of the biggest tax cuts in history, […]
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell listens during a news briefing after a weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon Oct. 10, 2018. McConnell blames the budget deficit on social security and Medicare.  
Alex Wong/Getty Images

About those tax cuts that are supposed to pay for themselves

Oct 18, 2018
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the budget deficit, which, at last count, is up 17 percent over last year. That’s what happens when the government spends $779 billion more than it collects in revenue, also known as taxes. Seems we’re paying the price for one of the biggest tax cuts in history, […]
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell listens during a news briefing after a weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon Oct. 10, 2018. McConnell blames the budget deficit on social security and Medicare.  
Alex Wong/Getty Images