The working poor are burdened with some of the most complex tax returns in the country as they annually claim Earned Income Tax and Child Tax refundable credits. In the coming months, low- and middle-income Americans who received unemployment insurance payments during the Covid-19 pandemic may also face a “tax trap” that unexpectedly reduces their…
Publications
At every turn, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have bungled the coronavirus pandemic and shortchanged our recovery. For the first month after most programs created by the CARES Act - the last major stimulus bill passed by Congress back in March - expired, the GOP wasted valuable time on half-measures that could not…
The coronavirus pandemic has opened some gaping holes in our nation’s social safety net, especially where hunger and malnutrition are concerned. Millions of low-income workers have lost their jobs (and will soon lose expanded unemployment benefits if Congress fails to extend them) and millions of children in low-income families have lost access to school meals…
Press
After several months of gridlock, lawmakers offered two competing frameworks yesterday for giving the American people another round of much-needed economic relief from the covid pandemic. The first is a $908 billion compromise with support from 16 members of both parties in the U.S. House and Senate, while the second is a $553 billion partisan proposal from…
The explosive revelations that self-proclaimed billionaire Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes – a tiny fraction of what he paid the Chinese government through his secret bank account – in recent years have focused overdue public attention on U.S. tax laws that seem designed to protect wealthy Americans. With our national debt approaching the highest level in…
Conservatives call the House Democrats’ Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act a “gigantic political scam.” Senate Republicans say HEROES, passed by the House on May 15th, is “dead on arrival when it reconvenes. As they negotiate with Democrats, Republicans should think carefully about certain student loan relief provisions in the bill. Even in good times, a…
Blog
While House Democrats and Senate Republicans remain at an impasse over how generous unemployment benefits should be in the current recession, a potentially greater problem is looming: millions of unemployed Americans will see their benefits terminated prematurely unless Congress takes additional action in the next three months. What’s more, many workers are forced to clear…
The outbreak of COVID-19 (commonly known as coronavirus) has created a global market downturn and raised the prospect that the United States could enter its first recession since the 2008 financial crisis. Last night, President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered two competing approaches for securing both the health and economic security…
The Director of PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future, Ben Ritz, joined personal-finance advisor Ric Edelman on his nationally syndicated radio show to discuss the challenges facing Social Security, their role in the 2020 election, and PPI's proposal to strengthen the program for future generations. Listen to the interview below and read our full plan…
