How Congress' latest bid to help Americans save for retirement falls short

Dec 12, 2022
Economists say bills like the Secure Act 2.0 mostly benefit those who already have some retirement savings.
One in four Americans aren't saving for retirement, many of them because they can't afford to.
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A new documentary about economic hardship comes from an unlikely auteur: Congress

Dec 7, 2022
The film highlights the struggles of three American families — in hopes of generating empathy in troubled political times.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Dec. 4, 2022.
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The promise and compromise of Senate Democrats' climate change legislation

Jul 29, 2022
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.., announced that he would back the package Thursday after previously raising inflation concerns.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said Thursday that he had agreed to support the Biden administration's climate change package.
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Small businesses push back on plan to redirect COVID relief funds

Apr 19, 2022
The Biden administration, pressured to avoid new spending, may reallocate the money to pandemic health care needs.
Congress could reroute about $5 billion in COVID relief set aside for small business to pandemic-related health care needs.  
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Congress looks to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks

Feb 8, 2022
Some of the proposed legislation would include spouses; some would include dependents as well.
A man walks by the New York Stock Exchange in New York City.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Congress returns to funding, Build Back Better attempt

Jan 31, 2022
Talk of a Supreme Court nomination is on everyone's lips these days, but Congress has an economic laundry list to address.
With Congress back in session, Democrats will want another try at passing at least portions of the Build Back Better agenda.
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Why it's so hard to pass climate crisis legislation in the U.S.

Jan 27, 2022
The American political system makes it easier to block change than to create it, explains Shannon Osaka of Grist.
The Build Back Better Bill is stalled, but it's not the first time that legislation aimed at tackling climate change has been sidelined.
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The infrastructure bill is on the president’s desk. What’s in it for rural America?

Nov 15, 2021
Rural states with the most work to do on those fronts — like Alaska, Wyoming, Montana and Vermont — will receive the most funding per capita.
Street lights line an unpaved road in Kivalina, Alaska. Alaska is among the rural states to receive the highest per capita funding from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
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Congress' budget gurus may slow down Biden’s Build Back Better plan

Nov 11, 2021
Zach Moller talks about what a Congressional Budget Office score is and how it affects legislation.
Roosevelt Forward CEO Felicia Wong says President Biden and congressional Democrats may be able to implement their economic priorities through laws they already passed, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.
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So what exactly is in the infrastructure bill?

Nov 8, 2021
And how exactly does it address the biggest challenges facing this economy?
President Joe Biden speaks Saturday, after the House passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill. It invests in climate-friendly transportation and addresses equity for marginalized communities, among other issues.
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