Experts are divided in their opinions on the overall effect of the new tax cut bill on the health of the economy. See story from Christian Science Monitor

Congress gave final approval to a $70 billion election-year package of tax cuts that will extend lower rates for investors and also save billions for families with above-average incomes. See story from MSNBC See Senate vote chart See House vote chart

With Medicaid leading the way, spending on entitlement programs for low income Americans has grown an inflation adjusted 22% since 2000. The reasons: expanded eligibility, more participation, and 1996 welfare reform. See story from USA Today

Under the recent budget and tax legislation, Medicaid recipients can expect higher copayments and deductibles. College students may face higher interest rates on student loans, as lenders are squeezed. Work requirements for women on welfare are likely to be tightened. Federal aid to states for child-support enforcement will be curtailed. All told, the US government will save $39 billion over the next five years under the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005. The legislation is the first in a decade to rein in the growth of entitlement programs. And, along with a plan for $70 billion in tax cuts moving through Congress, it provides the backdrop to a fierce debate over government priorities. See story from Christian Science Monitor

One day after Congress gave final approval to a contentious measure to reduce the deficit by nearly $40 billion through 2010, the Senate easily approved a $70 billion tax-cutting measure that would more than wipe out all those savings. The five-year measure, passed on a bipartisan 66 to 31 vote, would extend a variety of popular tax breaks, such as business tax credits for research and development, while blunting the growing impact of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system established to hit the rich but increasingly pinching the middle class. Senators loaded up the measure yesterday with new tax breaks for coal-mining safety equipment and new spending on military equipment and veterans' health care. A final package must still be negotiated with the House, which in December dropped the provision on the alternate minimum tax in favor of a two-year extension of President Bush's dividend and capital gains tax cuts of 2003, which expire in 2008. See story from Washington Post

By failing to reform Social Security, by adding an expensive prescription drug benefit and by failing to address the budget deficit, Congress has adopted a precarious "muddle through" approach to the looming funding crisis. See story from Christian Science Monitor

The Senate passed nearly $40 billion in spending reductions and stalled a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration in a furious pre-Christmas finish marked by testy floor debate and a rare tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Cheney. The budget bill would reduce the growth of spending on Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and student loans. On Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor, the bill would reduce benefits and require recipients to share some costs. It also would reduce the amount Medicaid pays for prescription drugs and would make it harder for the elderly to transfer assets to become eligible for Medicaid long-term-care coverage. The bill reduces Medicaid spending by nearly $7 billion over five years. See story from Philadephia Inquirer

The House approved $56 billion in tax cuts that would keep alive the deep reductions in the tax rates on dividends and capital gains passed in 2003, but the measure is certain to be challenged by senators who have so far balked at the tax cuts for investors. See story from Washington Post See vote

The push to cut taxes - an annual rite for the Bush presidency - is facing a tougher sell in Congress, as concern grows about swelling deficits and budget cuts that target programs for the poor. See story from Christian Science Monitor

The House budget-cutting bill has left countless groups--especially those advocating on behalf of the poor and the environment--devastated by what they say is irresponsible favoritism of rich individuals and corporations. See story from One World Net

House Republican leaders were dealt a rare defeat as Democrats and 22 Republicans teamed up to kill a major health and education spending measure. See story from New York Times

The U.S. Senate voted to extend $60 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses but added a $5 billion tax on big oil companies, drawing a veto threat from the White House. The Senate dropped provisions that would have kept in place tax-rate reductions for capital gains and dividends beyond their expiration in 2008. The Senate bill also extends a number of tax breaks for business, education and savings that otherwise would expire at the end of the year. Among them is a $30 billion measure that would keep millions of taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax next year -- a tax originally intended for the very wealthy. See story from Leading the Charge, Australia See vote

In debating the tax cut legislation, the Senate approved a measure urging reinstatement of "pay as you go" financing of government (see vote), a resolution which would prioritize health care for children over tax cuts for the wealthy (see vote), and an amendment which would repeal tax breaks for the wealthy (see vote).

The Senate narrowly approved the first cuts since 1997 to benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and farm subsidies, giving Republicans a modest victory against ever-rising government spending. The bill makes mild cuts to the health care programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, but leaves the food stamp program untouched. See story from Fox News See vote

Although tax reform is needed, the looming political battle regarding reform will be difficult. The probability is that the alternative minimum tax will be eliminated before its net starts reaching large members of the middle class. But in its place, there will be changes that will eliminate deductions to the extent that the major aspects of the present alternative minimum tax will affect everyone. See story from Christian Science Monitor

The combination of Katrina and the prolonged Iraq war appears to have spared the permanent repeal of the estate tax - for now. See story from Oregon Live

Just as the nation's housing boom appears to be slowing, debate is starting among policymakers about reining in one of the most sacred cows of American public policy: the mortgage-interest deduction and other generous tax benefits granted to homeowners. See story from Oakland Tribune

A new forecast from the Congressional Budget Office shows America's budget deficit once again coming in lower than expected. Republicans, unsurprisingly, are rushing to claim credit for sound economic management. But the long-term outlook is still soaked in red ink. See story from The Economist

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that the federal budget deficit would drop sharply and that the gap between government income and spending would be $331 billion in fiscal 2005. The federal budget deficit the CBO is projecting for this year is the third largest in history, but nonetheless down sharply from last year's record $412 billion worth of red ink. In 2006, CBO says the deficit will fall a bit more to $314 billion. See story from Christian Science Monitor

When the year started, President Bush made spending restraint a mantra, laying out an austere budget that would freeze non-security discretionary spending for five years and setting firm cost limits on transportation and energy bills. But now, as Congress fills in the details of the budget plan, there is little interest in making deep cuts and enormous pressure to spend. See story from Washington Post

Ten years ago, repeal of the estate tax was regarded as a long shot. Since then, the Republican anti-tax movement has convinced many Americans that it is a problematic tax. The repeal campaign has had financial backing from wealthy Americans who say it is "double taxation" on income already hit by income taxation. But most Americans face triple taxation - payroll taxes, income taxes, and sales taxes. See story from Christian Science Monitor

The booming real estate market, either from rising property taxes or fees on real estate transactions, is creating needed funds at the local level. Indeed, as housing prices increase dramatically, mayors are garnering funds for projects dry-docked after the dotcom bust. See story from Christian Science Monitor

Additional war spending this year will push the federal deficit to a record $427 billion for fiscal 2005, effectively thwarting President Bush's pledge to begin stanching the flow of government red ink, according to new administration budget forecasts. See story from Washington Post

The staff of the influential Joint Committee on Taxation, which advises both the House and Senate on tax policy issues, has proposed eliminating interest deductions for all second mortgages and credit lines. The proposal is included in a wide-ranging "options" paper that identifies revenue-raising measures to stem the federal budget deficit, simplify the tax code and "improve tax compliance. See story from Washington Post

With the federal government warning that it was on the verge of defaulting on its debts, the House rejected efforts to reimpose restrictions on tax cuts and spending, then joined the Senate to raise the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $8.18 trillion. See story from Washington Post See Senate vote See House vote

Domestic spending, particularly small business subsidies and environmental programs, were severely cut under the budget bill approved by the Senate and House. See story from Washington Post See vote

As people start to receive their 2005 property tax bills, the levies are squeezing the middle class and senior citizens - leaving them less to spend on everything from restaurants to roof repair. See story from Christian Science Monitor

As he campaigns for re-election, President Bush is vowing to lead a bipartisan effort to overhaul the personal income tax and make it "simpler, fairer and progrowth." But Republican and Democratic tax experts caution that making the tax code simpler would almost certainly set off a fierce political battle over the issue of fairness, because most options under discussion would shift a substantial share of the tax burden from high-income families to middle-income earners. See story from New York Times

The recent corporate tax bill with its extensive "give aways" to special interests and the middle class tax cut extensions will continue to increase the deficit and in the long run erode the capital foundation of the U.S. economy. See story from Christian Science Monitor

The economy has been significantly affected by critical strategic decisions made by the Bush Administration in 2002. The decision to not limit tax cuts to just lower and middle income earners went against the advice of many of his economic advisers. Economic aides said the president made the decision himself, subordinating fiscal concerns to philosophy: If some taxpayers deserved lower income tax rates, all of them did. Some economists -- although by no means most -- see a reckoning on the horizon, when foreign lenders reject U.S. debt, interest rates rise, and the value of the dollar crashes. See story from Washington Post

Legislation extending three popular middle-class tax cuts for the rest of the decade sailed through Congress by lopsided votes in both the House and Senate. The tax package Congress passed will affect an estimated 94 million Americans, mainly through its provision to extend a broader 10 percent tax bracket, which helps reduce taxes for virtually all taxpayers. The package also keeps the per child tax credit at $1,000 and retains the provisions providing married couples relief from the so-called marriage penalty. See story from Associated Press

The 2004 federal deficit will hit a record $415 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. The figure, a preliminary estimate based on Treasury data, is $7 billion less than Congress' nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected just a month ago. The budget office attributed the improvement to better than expected corporate tax collections. See story from Associated Press

Congress passed the most sweeping rewrite of corporate tax law in nearly two decades, a measure designed to end a nasty trade war with Europe and shower $136 billion in new tax breaks on businesses, farmers and other groups. Supporters argued that the centerpiece of the legislation - tax relief for American factories - was critically needed to aid beleaguered manufacturers who have suffered 2.7 million lost jobs over the past four years. But opponents charged that the tax package had grown into a massive giveaway that will add to the complexity of the tax system and end up rewarding multinational companies that move jobs overseas. See story from Associated Press See vote

President Bush said that abolishing the U.S. income tax system and replacing it with a national sales tax was an idea worth considering. See story from Christian Science Monitor

President Bush 's tax cuts have transferred the federal tax burden from the richest Americans to middle-class families, with one-third of them benefiting people with the top 1 percent of income, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. See story from Reuters

The House voted to preserve the tax cut for married couples. Some couples faced a tax increase in 2005 unless Congress acts to make permanent three changes in law that reduced the so-called marriage penalty. Congress had previously increased the standard deduction for married couples twice that of single individuals and increased the 15 percent tax bracket for married couples to twice that of singles. Those fixes were only temporary and are scheduled to roll back at the end of the year. See vote

The Senate by a single vote rejected an effort to extend federal unemployment benefits. See vote

The U.S. Senate, acting swiftly after overcoming Democratic delaying tactics, passed a massive, overdue spending bill that funds much of the federal government this fiscal year but is heavily laden with pork-barrel projects. The measure includes $10.7 billion for projects in the home states of representatives and senators. The bill contains a provision that reduces from 90 days to one day the amount of time that the FBI must keep records of gun purchase applicants. The bill also allows companies to pay overtime to fewer white-collar workers, permits media conglomerates to own more television stations and postpones for two years a requirement to put country-of-origin labels on beef and many other foods sold at stores. See story from Washington Post See vote

The federal budget deficit will reach $477 billion this year, the biggest ever in dollar terms, according to the Congressional Budget Office. When compared to the GDP, the projected deficit of 4.2% is not the biggest in recent history, but it is close to some of the largest in the Reagan and first Bush administrations. See story from USA Today

The Senate voted to approve a $318 billion transportation bill, but the legislation faces White House opposition over its price tag, and it differs from a costlier bill pending in the House. The local transportation projects the bill would finance are politically popular with lawmakers and their constituents. But the cost cannot be covered completely by the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is supported by the gasoline tax. The price tag has alarmed fiscal conservatives at a time of rising budget deficits and calls from President Bush to rein in spending. See story from Washington Post See vote

Keeping the federal budget at or near balance over the next 50 years could require painful tax increases, spending cuts or both according to a new Congressional Budget Office report. "The longer that lawmakers delay acting to counter an unsustainable budgetary situation, the larger the spending cuts or tax increases will eventually have to be," the 60-page study warned. The big problem facing the government is the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, whose 76 million members will start later this decade relying on Social Security and Medicare and increase their use of Medicaid. See Report

Multinationals, including an impressive roster of tech companies and some heavyweight pharmaceutical firms, are in an all-out lobbying drive to cut the normal 35 percent tax rate on foreign earnings to a more digestible 5.25 percent. Critics derisively label the plan a tax "holiday" that fat corporations don't need. See story from Newshouse News Services