Social Security, Medicare Safe From Fed Cuts—Until March

Jan. 14, 2013 / By

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L.A. Watts Times/New America Media, News Analysis, Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Posted: Jan 12, 2013

LOS ANGELES–The dreaded “fiscal cliff” of government spending cuts and tax raises that was to take effect on January 1 has been averted for now, thanks to an agreement by the White House and Congress reached last week.

Congress and the Obama administration have only temporarily averted the “cliff” by about two months when they will return to the issue of sequestration – the automatic, across-the-board federal spending cuts.

For now, the agreement that was reached calls for ending a payroll tax “holiday” that reduced the tax by two percent; establishing permanent tax relief for low-income and middle-class families and extending federal unemployment benefits. Tax cuts will end for individuals with incomes of $400,000 or more ($450,000 for couples).

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