Free Republic

Last month we highlighted Social Security’s cumulative effect on federal deficits in the next ten years. That often surprises people who think Social Security is “paid for” through payroll taxes.What will surprise them even more: the much larger Medicare effect on federal deficits over the next decade.You might ask yourself: don’t people pay for Medicare with payroll taxes when they work or with monthly premiums when they retire?They do. And payroll taxes do cover almost all of Part A’s expenditures. But it is written into law that three-quarters of Parts B and D are explicitly subsidized by taxpayers. The Medicare...

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Senate Democrats, seething over the Trump administration’s revived war with Iran, blocked a traditionally bipartisan defense funding bill on Tuesday. The Defense Department is seeking more than $1 trillion through a broad package that includes program funding, pay raises and policy directives as the ceasefire with Tehran ends. The administration’s hopes for the historically high request were suppressed on Capitol Hill, where a mostly party-line vote delayed passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which usually succeeds with ease. Forty-five Democrats voted against the legislation, preventing Republicans from overcoming the 60-vote barrier set for most...

Ninety-five per cent of Americans believe the US is suffering an affordability crisis, as many report trouble with the rising cost of groceries and gas, according to a survey, conducted by Harris Poll. Despite stable employment and record-high stock markets, more Americans believe the overall economy is getting worse (57%) than in February (46%), when the poll was last conducted and before the war in the Middle East sent gas prices soaring. Fewer people today also believe the economy is getting better (16%, compared with 28% in February) and more say their financial security has gotten worse. Even rural Americans,...

The Federal Budget Deficits are large by historical standards. The deficit totals $1.9 trillion in fiscal year 2026 and grows to $3.1 trillion in 2036. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit is 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 and increases to 6.7 percent in 2036. Deficits averaged 3.8 percent of GDP over the last 50 years (see Chapter 1). Debt held by the public rises from 101 percent of GDP in 2026 to 120 percent in 2036, well above the previous record of 106 percent just after World War II. Outlays are large by...

Initiative allows newborns to be enrolled in new and streamlined processes Baltimore, MD – Today, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced it is launching processes for parents to enroll newborns in Trump Accounts. This automatic system will help ensure that every newborn has the opportunity to benefit from a Trump Account from the start of life. One year ago, on July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts, which created Trump Accounts, a new type of individual retirement account for eligible minors under the age of 18. "Trump Accounts represent one of the...

The White House on Wednesday officially asked Congress for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding to pay for the Iran war, curtail the ongoing Ebola outbreak and provide aid to U.S. farmers, among other requests, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought asked for $67 billion for the Defense Department, down from an expected $200 billion first floated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March. But even with a smaller price tag, the bill will need some support from Democrats to...

The Trump administration on Wednesday sent Congress a long-awaited supplemental funding package to help cover the cost of the Iran war. The administration is asking for about $87.6 billion to address "urgent needs" related to the Iran war, as well as other funding to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa and provide support for American farmers. The request will face an uphill battle and puts vulnerable Republicans in a politically tricky position, since backing it could be seen as support for the unpopular war. It's all but certain to face stiff opposition from Democrats, putting its passage in...

"There is not one nation that came to us and said, 'Please, sir, keep dropping bombs on them [Iran]'; the stupid people say that," President Trump declared last week at the G7 meeting before signing an MOU with the Islamic Republic. "Don't forget, if we were going to drop bombs, let's say we went another month, another two, three months, maybe weeks, it could be another three months. Could be whatever. What do you have left? Maybe nothing... If we keep bombing... you're talking about $500M, $600M, $700M a day. It's a lot of money." Snapshot: This kind of rhetoric...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has told senators it needs roughly $80 billion, mostly to cover the cost of the U.S. war against Iran, adding to what is already a sizable military spending boost being sought by President Donald Trump. The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to make a formal request to Congress. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, including Monday evening. A top deputy defense secretary told senators about the Iran funding request last week, according to two people familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss...

Ever gotten so deep in credit card debt that you stopped opening the bills because it felt hopeless and looking at the numbers simply stressed you out? If not, I congratulate you on your thrift and prudence. But a lot of people have reached that point, as you will discover if you spend much time on personal finance forums. If you are someone who pays off your credit card every month, it can be hard to understand why anyone would just stop opening their bills. Sure, it is hard to contemplate your financial problems. But contemplation, however unpleasant, is not...

Records show the price tag for the White House ballroom is rising to $600 million, with half of the costs funded by taxpayer dollars, according to a new report from The Washington Post. The news comes months after President Trump said private donors would pay for the $400 million initiative to construct a new ballroom in place of the East Wing. At the end of March, Trump told reporters “We’re donating a building that’s approximately $400 million.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday efforts to combat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during a roundtable.During the roundtable, the EPA proposed advancing a comprehensive, lifecycle-based strategy to address unsafe levels of PFAS, known as "forever chemicals," in drinking water. As part of the new strategy, RFK Jr. announced nearly $1 billion in new funding to states set to address PFAS in drinking water. "EPA and HHS are addressing PFAS at every stage contamination, exposure to treatment, monitoring and long-term research. Americans want honest science, accountability...

WASHINGTON — The estimated price tag for the war in Iran so far has jumped to $29 billion, up from the $25 billion figure given at the end of April, a senior Pentagon official revealed Tuesday. Jules Hurst, acting under secretary of Defense who serves as the de facto chief financial officer at the Pentagon, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the higher amount came from a further crunching of the numbers. “The Joint Staff team, with the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to [$]29 [billion],” Hurst said....

Washington — President Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News Monday morning that he aims to suspend the federal gas tax "for a period of time." "I think it's a great idea," the president said. "Yup, we're going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we'll let it phase back in." Gas prices have soared over 50% since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, hitting a high of over $4.52 on Sunday, according to AAA. Analysts say the prices are likely to remain high with Iran...

The U.S. government learned last week that it may have reached an unfortunate milestone: The size of its debt surpassed the nation’s total economic output. It was a striking imbalance, according to early estimates, one that the country has experienced only in rare circumstances — briefly during the pandemic, and in the aftermath of World War II. But the development barely seemed to register in the nation’s capital, where few policymakers bothered to acknowledge the latest warning sign about the government’s poor fiscal health. The root of the problem is well-documented and widely known. U.S. debt has soared in recent...

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at getting tens of millions of American workers enrolled in retirement accounts. The order further directs the Treasury Department to implement the Federal Saver’s Match program to boost Individual Retirement Account (IRA) savings. Here’s what you need to know about the new accounts and the billions of dollars in federal matching available. Who is eligible? Through the website TrumpIRA.gov – launching in January 2027 – all Americans will be eligible to browse and enroll in “high-quality, low-cost” IRA plans offered by private-sector financial institutions. The plans offered will cater to “American workers...

Six months before Election Day, America’s $39 trillion national debt has moved from an abstract fiscal concern to a dinner-table anxiety… A new national survey released Thursday by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that 92% of registered voters are concerned that the national debt is fueling inflation and driving up their personal cost of living, including prices for groceries, energy, housing, and transportation. The figure includes 94% of Democrats, 92% of independents, and 89% of Republicans — a degree of bipartisan alignment rarely seen in today’s fractured political environment… The concern extends beyond deficits in the abstract. Eighty-eight percent...

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Friday warned that the growing national debt is “a ticking time bomb” and he called on his fellow lawmakers to do “much more.” The U.S. national debt crossed 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the first quarter, the first time the debt crossed that line since 1946. The debt surpassed $39 trillion in March, a mere five months after it reached $38 trillion. Roy told Fox Business’s Cheryl Casone that the debt is “a ticking time bomb and that some of us have been talking about for a long time.”...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said $400 million in Ukraine support was released after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) penned an angry op-ed criticizing the stall in funding. “The department recognizes that $400 million was allocated for European capacity building, and as of yesterday, it has been released,” Hegseth said in response to a question about the aid from Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.). Elfreth followed up to ask whether the money was released under contract. Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III said the aid was “not under contract, but released to be put under contract.” When pressed by Elfreth on when...

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) broke ranks Thursday morning and voted against a budget resolution that could set the stage for ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, opposed the budget resolution because it would lay the groundwork for passing a budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years — effectively taking those two key agencies out of the annual congressional appropriations process. Murkowski supports funding those critical immigration enforcement agencies, but she didn’t like that...