DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer all the questions?
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
Huge spending cuts, and maybe some targeted tax hikes.
That's how the deal to raise the debt ceiling is shaping up. Details are thin, as negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors and involve only a few of Washington's heaviest hitters.
This much is known: Lawmakers must raise the nation's $14.3 trillion legal borrowing limit soon. The Treasury Department says that on Aug. 2 it will run out of money to pay the nation's bills in full and on time.
That's only a few weeks away. So what's it gonna take?
The group of lawmakers who participated in negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden have already identified more than $1 trillion in budget cuts.
Republicans want far more.
But already, $1 trillion in cuts is entering uncharted territory. The cuts would be some of the biggest in history.
"It sounds as if the package is going to be all spending cuts with a few symbolic revenue increases," said Isabel Sawhill, an economist who studies fiscal issues at the Brookings Institution and worked in the Clinton administration.
The $1 trillion in cuts would probably be spread out over the next decade or so, meaning roughly $100 billion less in federal spending each year, although the savings might be larger in later years.
Debt ceiling FAQs: What you need to know
Sawhill said the cuts are likely to be focused on non-security discretionary spending, a small section of the budget that includes funding for food inspectors, the FBI and education grants, among many other programs and services people associate with government.
"The public is going to be a lot more concerned when they see the details and not just the abstraction of less spending," Sawhill said.
That's something Obama clearly has on his mind as well. He made the point in a press conference this week.
"I've said to some of the Republican leaders, you go talk to your constituents, the Republican constituents, and ask them are they willing to compromise their kids' safety so that some corporate jet owner continues to get a tax break," Obama said. "And I'm pretty sure what the answer would be."
On the revenue side, the White House wants to close loopholes that benefit the owners of private jets, and raise taxes on hedge fund managers who pay lower tax rates on so-called "carried interest."
Obama to Congress: Do your job
Additional proposals would change how business inventory is taxed, and eliminate government subsidies for oil and gas companies.
But not if Republicans have anything to say about it. The party's leaders have put up a united front on the issue. Tax hikes will not be considered, they say.
There is a common theme. The proposals spare the middle class and instead focus on corporations and the wealthy. The White House says they focus on "unnecessary" and "unjustifiable" tax breaks.
The revenue increases won't make much of a dent, at least not compared to $1 trillion in spending cuts.
Ending the tax break for owners of private jets, for instance, would only save a few billion dollars, hardly enough to fund the Food and Drug Administration.
"I understand the populist appeal," Sawhill said. "But those numbers are very small."
However, one additional proposal pushed by Democrats could add up to real money.
The White House wants to limit deductions taken by the wealthiest Americans. Depending on the details, that could quickly add up to increased revenue in the hundreds of billions.
Still, those tax increases will only touch a fraction of Americans, while the spending cuts will spread the pain around.
"Americans don't have a firm grasp on what it means to cut a trillion dollars," Sawhill said. "They think it's someone else's trillion dollars."
That's how the deal to raise the debt ceiling is shaping up. Details are thin, as negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors and involve only a few of Washington's heaviest hitters?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The White House wants to limit deductions taken by the wealthiest Americans. Depending on the details, that could quickly add up to increased revenue in the hundreds of billions?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
Huge spending cuts, and maybe some targeted tax hikes.
That's how the deal to raise the debt ceiling is shaping up. Details are thin, as negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors and involve only a few of Washington's heaviest hitters.
This much is known: Lawmakers must raise the nation's $14.3 trillion legal borrowing limit soon. The Treasury Department says that on Aug. 2 it will run out of money to pay the nation's bills in full and on time.
That's only a few weeks away. So what's it gonna take?
The group of lawmakers who participated in negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden have already identified more than $1 trillion in budget cuts.
Republicans want far more.
But already, $1 trillion in cuts is entering uncharted territory. The cuts would be some of the biggest in history.
"It sounds as if the package is going to be all spending cuts with a few symbolic revenue increases," said Isabel Sawhill, an economist who studies fiscal issues at the Brookings Institution and worked in the Clinton administration.
The $1 trillion in cuts would probably be spread out over the next decade or so, meaning roughly $100 billion less in federal spending each year, although the savings might be larger in later years.
Debt ceiling FAQs: What you need to know
Sawhill said the cuts are likely to be focused on non-security discretionary spending, a small section of the budget that includes funding for food inspectors, the FBI and education grants, among many other programs and services people associate with government.
"The public is going to be a lot more concerned when they see the details and not just the abstraction of less spending," Sawhill said.
That's something Obama clearly has on his mind as well. He made the point in a press conference this week.
"I've said to some of the Republican leaders, you go talk to your constituents, the Republican constituents, and ask them are they willing to compromise their kids' safety so that some corporate jet owner continues to get a tax break," Obama said. "And I'm pretty sure what the answer would be."
On the revenue side, the White House wants to close loopholes that benefit the owners of private jets, and raise taxes on hedge fund managers who pay lower tax rates on so-called "carried interest."
Obama to Congress: Do your job
Additional proposals would change how business inventory is taxed, and eliminate government subsidies for oil and gas companies.
But not if Republicans have anything to say about it. The party's leaders have put up a united front on the issue. Tax hikes will not be considered, they say.
There is a common theme. The proposals spare the middle class and instead focus on corporations and the wealthy. The White House says they focus on "unnecessary" and "unjustifiable" tax breaks.
The revenue increases won't make much of a dent, at least not compared to $1 trillion in spending cuts.
Ending the tax break for owners of private jets, for instance, would only save a few billion dollars, hardly enough to fund the Food and Drug Administration.
"I understand the populist appeal," Sawhill said. "But those numbers are very small."
However, one additional proposal pushed by Democrats could add up to real money.
The White House wants to limit deductions taken by the wealthiest Americans. Depending on the details, that could quickly add up to increased revenue in the hundreds of billions.
Still, those tax increases will only touch a fraction of Americans, while the spending cuts will spread the pain around.
"Americans don't have a firm grasp on what it means to cut a trillion dollars," Sawhill said. "They think it's someone else's trillion dollars."
That's how the deal to raise the debt ceiling is shaping up. Details are thin, as negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors and involve only a few of Washington's heaviest hitters?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The White House wants to limit deductions taken by the wealthiest Americans. Depending on the details, that could quickly add up to increased revenue in the hundreds of billions?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer all the questions?
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
The last remaining member of President Obama's original economic team, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is said to be considering leaving his post… on his own accord. Geithner wants to leave the administration after budget talks, according to several reports citing people close to the matter.
Geithner has faced many challenges and became a lighting rod in the last 3-plus years, in dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression, as the head of Treasury and in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Bank President.
Critics say Geithner has been too kind to the banks, pointing to his work on the $700 billion TARP program as well as the AIG bailout - which in essence put taxpayer dollars on the line to ensure AIG's counterparties would be made whole. Others say without these moves and his stewardship, the Great Recession would have been far worse.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, applauds Geithner's efforts saying the Treasury Secretary has done an "excellent job." Zandi is especially complimentary of Geithner's work on the bank stress tests which he calls "one of the most successful" measures in helping to end the financial panic in 2009. Less successful, Zandi says, have been Geithner's attempts to resuscitate the housing market.
Regardless of your view Geithner's departure, if it is indeed true, leaves the Obama administration one less economic advisor after the departure of Austan Goolsbee who replaced Christina Romer as the Council of Economic Advisers Chairman. National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag left the administration last year.
Who will replace Geithner?
Zandi names several policymakers as potential recplacements, including Fed vice chair Janet Yellen, FDIC chief Sheila Bair and former deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman.
But the economist seems to favor JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, saying he'd be a "fabulous" Treasury Secretary. Dimon would be a controversial choice: while a Democrat, Dimon has been highly critical of Obama's push for greater regulation. Meanwhile, consumer advocates and left-leaning Democrats would certainly worry about his Wall Street background.
Satellite TV operator DISH network has outbid several other suitors for the assets of video-rental chain Blockbuster, which were auctioned off in bankruptcy court yesterday.
DISH paid about $321 million for the company, which has about 1,700 store locations.
What will DISH do with Blockbuster?
DISH CEO Charlie Ergen hasn't laid out any specific plans yet, but he will presumably use the chain in at least a few ways.
First, the Blockbuster stores can serve as local sales and service outlets for the DISH service. Second, DISH subscribers might be able to rent Blockbuster's DVDs or stream movies online, allowing DISH to compete directly with Netflix--one of the companies that helped put Blockbuster out of business.
And so what does the deal mean for Netflix?
In the short-term, probably very little. Netflix won its war with Blockbuster a few years ago, and it has since amassed a stunning 20 million subscribers to its US DVD and streaming service. As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently spelled out in this interview with me, Netflix is laser-focused on offering its $8-a-month streaming service, rather than competing in pay-per-view or movie sales the way many of its online competitors are doing. This simple value proposition has resonated with customers, and Netflix's subscriber base has boomed in the past two years.
In the longer term, the DISH-Blockbuster combination will add yet another big competitor to a crowded and noisy market, in which satellite companies, cable companies, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, networks, and studios are all fighting for control of premium video distribution of the future.
Right now, Netflix is by far the most successful of the new entrants, but the industry is changing fast. And the DISH-Blockbuster combination may create another player that everyone needs to pay attention to.
DISH CEO Charlie Ergen hasn't laid out any specific plans yet, but he will presumably use the chain in at least a few ways?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Right now, Netflix is by far the most successful of the new entrants, but the industry is changing fast?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
The last remaining member of President Obama's original economic team, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is said to be considering leaving his post… on his own accord. Geithner wants to leave the administration after budget talks, according to several reports citing people close to the matter.
Geithner has faced many challenges and became a lighting rod in the last 3-plus years, in dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression, as the head of Treasury and in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Bank President.
Critics say Geithner has been too kind to the banks, pointing to his work on the $700 billion TARP program as well as the AIG bailout - which in essence put taxpayer dollars on the line to ensure AIG's counterparties would be made whole. Others say without these moves and his stewardship, the Great Recession would have been far worse.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, applauds Geithner's efforts saying the Treasury Secretary has done an "excellent job." Zandi is especially complimentary of Geithner's work on the bank stress tests which he calls "one of the most successful" measures in helping to end the financial panic in 2009. Less successful, Zandi says, have been Geithner's attempts to resuscitate the housing market.
Regardless of your view Geithner's departure, if it is indeed true, leaves the Obama administration one less economic advisor after the departure of Austan Goolsbee who replaced Christina Romer as the Council of Economic Advisers Chairman. National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag left the administration last year.
Who will replace Geithner?
Zandi names several policymakers as potential recplacements, including Fed vice chair Janet Yellen, FDIC chief Sheila Bair and former deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman.
But the economist seems to favor JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, saying he'd be a "fabulous" Treasury Secretary. Dimon would be a controversial choice: while a Democrat, Dimon has been highly critical of Obama's push for greater regulation. Meanwhile, consumer advocates and left-leaning Democrats would certainly worry about his Wall Street background.
Satellite TV operator DISH network has outbid several other suitors for the assets of video-rental chain Blockbuster, which were auctioned off in bankruptcy court yesterday.
DISH paid about $321 million for the company, which has about 1,700 store locations.
What will DISH do with Blockbuster?
DISH CEO Charlie Ergen hasn't laid out any specific plans yet, but he will presumably use the chain in at least a few ways.
First, the Blockbuster stores can serve as local sales and service outlets for the DISH service. Second, DISH subscribers might be able to rent Blockbuster's DVDs or stream movies online, allowing DISH to compete directly with Netflix--one of the companies that helped put Blockbuster out of business.
And so what does the deal mean for Netflix?
In the short-term, probably very little. Netflix won its war with Blockbuster a few years ago, and it has since amassed a stunning 20 million subscribers to its US DVD and streaming service. As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently spelled out in this interview with me, Netflix is laser-focused on offering its $8-a-month streaming service, rather than competing in pay-per-view or movie sales the way many of its online competitors are doing. This simple value proposition has resonated with customers, and Netflix's subscriber base has boomed in the past two years.
In the longer term, the DISH-Blockbuster combination will add yet another big competitor to a crowded and noisy market, in which satellite companies, cable companies, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, networks, and studios are all fighting for control of premium video distribution of the future.
Right now, Netflix is by far the most successful of the new entrants, but the industry is changing fast. And the DISH-Blockbuster combination may create another player that everyone needs to pay attention to.
DISH CEO Charlie Ergen hasn't laid out any specific plans yet, but he will presumably use the chain in at least a few ways?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Right now, Netflix is by far the most successful of the new entrants, but the industry is changing fast?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer all the questions?
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has taken up tea party-backed House legislation tying an increase in the government's borrowing authority to a series of conservative demands including a constitutional balanced budget amendment.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called up the measure to placate Republicans demanding a vote. But he said it "doesn't have one chance in a million of passing the Senate."
Democrats argue that the so-called "cut, cap and balance" measure would impose untenable spending restraints and set spending levels, as a percentage of the overall economy, on par with the mid-1960s -- before the advent of Medicare and automatic Social Security cost-of-living adjustments.
The development Thursday reflected the reality that there's more talk than progress as official Washington wrangles daily over finding a way out of a debt dilemma that has the government sliding inexorably toward a first-ever default on its financial obligations.
President Barack Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the White House for 90 minutes on Wednesday, but neither side would comment afterward.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday the legislation now before his chamber would be an opportunity for lawmakers to "go on record in support of balancing our books or against it." He urged Democrats to join GOP senators in backing it.
In brief remarks on the Senate floor, the Kentucky Republican assailed Obama for his "reckless spending habits" and wondered about the Democrat's recent attempts to "come across as a fiscal conservative."
Democrats are expected to kill the measure -- which they say would demand debilitating cuts to Medicare -- in a vote on Saturday if not before.
Meanwhile, momentum on a separate bipartisan budget plan by the Senate's "Gang of Six" seemed to ebb as critics warned the measure contains larger tax increases than advertised and it became plain that the measure comes too late and is too controversial to advance quickly -- particularly as a part of a debt limit package that already would be teetering on a knife's edge.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the Gang of Six, said Thursday that some 40 senators of both parties back the plan his group has brought forward. It generally takes 60 votes to pass legislation in the 100-member Senate because the rules permit unlimited debate unless a supermajority votes to limit it.
But Conrad also said he feels there's too little time between now and Aug. 2 to complete a comprehensive package of spending cuts, benefit program changes and an overhaul of the tax code.
Conrad said doing nothing is not an option, saying that "we're all going to have to do things we'd prefer in a perfect world not to have to do."
Absent a breakthrough between Obama and Republicans, there is a hotly contested backup plan by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would give Obama broad new powers to obtain increases in the government's borrowing unless blocked by veto-proof two-thirds margins in both the House and Senate.
Many conservative Republicans are in an uproar over the McConnell plan, and more than 70 House members signed a letter circulated by members of the conservative Republican Study Committee calling on Boehner to come out in public opposition to the McConnell-Reid plan..
In a shift, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that Obama would back a short-term deal to prevent a disastrous financial default on Aug. 2 but only if a larger and still elusive deficit-cutting agreement was essentially in place.
Officially, the president continued to push for a big compromise that would cut the nation's budget deficit and extend the government's tapped-out borrowing power above the current $14.3 trillion cap. Obama had threatened to veto any stopgap expansion of the nation's debt limit, at one point last week even challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., not to call his bluff about it.
Carney said if a divided Congress and the White House can agree on a significant deal, Obama would accept a "very short-term extension" of the debt limit to let bigger legislation work its way through Congress.
Obama also is open to the McConnell plan, but it seems barely aloft due to fervent tea party opposition in the House. The hope appears to be that such an option will look a lot better to the House in a week or so, given the lack of other ideas.
The Gang of Six plan has come under assault from critics like House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who say the plan would increase taxes by $2 trillion over the next 10 years instead of the $1 trillion-plus claimed by proponents like Conrad -- a development likely to stunt momentum among Republicans.
The revenue increase is larger than advertised because the $1.2 trillion in new taxes comes on top of an underlying assumption used by Obama's deficit commission -- and incorporated by the Senate group in its plan -- that the Bush-era income tax brackets for family income exceeding $250,000 would revert to the higher, Clinton administration levels. The deficit panel's assumption was made before Obama buckled in December and signed a full extension of the Bush tax cuts.
The Gang of Six plan also earned poor reviews from liberals like Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who said it would "balance the budget on the backs of the vulnerable."
And Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, blasted the plan in a missive to his panel members, saying it would cut the Pentagon much too deeply and would unfairly curb military health and retirement benefits.
The Gang of Six plan promises almost $4 trillion in deficit cuts, including an immediate 10-year, $500 billion down payment that would come as Congress sets caps on the agency budgets it passes each year. It also requires an additional $500 billion in cost curbs on federal health care programs, cuts to federal employee pensions, curbs in the growth of military health care and retirement costs, and modest cuts to farm subsidies.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq extended gains on Thursday, rising more than 1 percent, helped by upbeat economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) soared 162.95 points, or 1.30 percent, at 12,734.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was up 19.00 points, or 1.43 percent, at 1,344.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) advanced 33.12 points, or 1.18 percent, at 2,847.35.
The Senate has taken up tea party-backed House legislation tying an increase in the government's borrowing authority to a series of conservative demands including a constitutional balanced budget amendment?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The Gang of Six plan promises almost $4 trillion in deficit cuts, including an immediate 10-year, $500 billion down payment that would come as Congress sets caps on the agency budgets it passes each year?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has taken up tea party-backed House legislation tying an increase in the government's borrowing authority to a series of conservative demands including a constitutional balanced budget amendment.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called up the measure to placate Republicans demanding a vote. But he said it "doesn't have one chance in a million of passing the Senate."
Democrats argue that the so-called "cut, cap and balance" measure would impose untenable spending restraints and set spending levels, as a percentage of the overall economy, on par with the mid-1960s -- before the advent of Medicare and automatic Social Security cost-of-living adjustments.
The development Thursday reflected the reality that there's more talk than progress as official Washington wrangles daily over finding a way out of a debt dilemma that has the government sliding inexorably toward a first-ever default on its financial obligations.
President Barack Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the White House for 90 minutes on Wednesday, but neither side would comment afterward.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday the legislation now before his chamber would be an opportunity for lawmakers to "go on record in support of balancing our books or against it." He urged Democrats to join GOP senators in backing it.
In brief remarks on the Senate floor, the Kentucky Republican assailed Obama for his "reckless spending habits" and wondered about the Democrat's recent attempts to "come across as a fiscal conservative."
Democrats are expected to kill the measure -- which they say would demand debilitating cuts to Medicare -- in a vote on Saturday if not before.
Meanwhile, momentum on a separate bipartisan budget plan by the Senate's "Gang of Six" seemed to ebb as critics warned the measure contains larger tax increases than advertised and it became plain that the measure comes too late and is too controversial to advance quickly -- particularly as a part of a debt limit package that already would be teetering on a knife's edge.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the Gang of Six, said Thursday that some 40 senators of both parties back the plan his group has brought forward. It generally takes 60 votes to pass legislation in the 100-member Senate because the rules permit unlimited debate unless a supermajority votes to limit it.
But Conrad also said he feels there's too little time between now and Aug. 2 to complete a comprehensive package of spending cuts, benefit program changes and an overhaul of the tax code.
Conrad said doing nothing is not an option, saying that "we're all going to have to do things we'd prefer in a perfect world not to have to do."
Absent a breakthrough between Obama and Republicans, there is a hotly contested backup plan by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would give Obama broad new powers to obtain increases in the government's borrowing unless blocked by veto-proof two-thirds margins in both the House and Senate.
Many conservative Republicans are in an uproar over the McConnell plan, and more than 70 House members signed a letter circulated by members of the conservative Republican Study Committee calling on Boehner to come out in public opposition to the McConnell-Reid plan..
In a shift, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that Obama would back a short-term deal to prevent a disastrous financial default on Aug. 2 but only if a larger and still elusive deficit-cutting agreement was essentially in place.
Officially, the president continued to push for a big compromise that would cut the nation's budget deficit and extend the government's tapped-out borrowing power above the current $14.3 trillion cap. Obama had threatened to veto any stopgap expansion of the nation's debt limit, at one point last week even challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., not to call his bluff about it.
Carney said if a divided Congress and the White House can agree on a significant deal, Obama would accept a "very short-term extension" of the debt limit to let bigger legislation work its way through Congress.
Obama also is open to the McConnell plan, but it seems barely aloft due to fervent tea party opposition in the House. The hope appears to be that such an option will look a lot better to the House in a week or so, given the lack of other ideas.
The Gang of Six plan has come under assault from critics like House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who say the plan would increase taxes by $2 trillion over the next 10 years instead of the $1 trillion-plus claimed by proponents like Conrad -- a development likely to stunt momentum among Republicans.
The revenue increase is larger than advertised because the $1.2 trillion in new taxes comes on top of an underlying assumption used by Obama's deficit commission -- and incorporated by the Senate group in its plan -- that the Bush-era income tax brackets for family income exceeding $250,000 would revert to the higher, Clinton administration levels. The deficit panel's assumption was made before Obama buckled in December and signed a full extension of the Bush tax cuts.
The Gang of Six plan also earned poor reviews from liberals like Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who said it would "balance the budget on the backs of the vulnerable."
And Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, blasted the plan in a missive to his panel members, saying it would cut the Pentagon much too deeply and would unfairly curb military health and retirement benefits.
The Gang of Six plan promises almost $4 trillion in deficit cuts, including an immediate 10-year, $500 billion down payment that would come as Congress sets caps on the agency budgets it passes each year. It also requires an additional $500 billion in cost curbs on federal health care programs, cuts to federal employee pensions, curbs in the growth of military health care and retirement costs, and modest cuts to farm subsidies.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq extended gains on Thursday, rising more than 1 percent, helped by upbeat economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) soared 162.95 points, or 1.30 percent, at 12,734.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was up 19.00 points, or 1.43 percent, at 1,344.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) advanced 33.12 points, or 1.18 percent, at 2,847.35.
The Senate has taken up tea party-backed House legislation tying an increase in the government's borrowing authority to a series of conservative demands including a constitutional balanced budget amendment?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The Gang of Six plan promises almost $4 trillion in deficit cuts, including an immediate 10-year, $500 billion down payment that would come as Congress sets caps on the agency budgets it passes each year?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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