McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers' health plans as the law ripples through the real world. Trade groups representing restaurants and… Read more

Congress halted plans to pass a major tax bill before the November elections, leaving taxpayers and financial advisers unsure of how to plan for the future. One of three scenarios face Congress when it returns from the election recess: It will extend all of the Bush tax cuts of 2001, which expire this year; it will hammer out a new law, perhaps using some of President Barack Obama's… Read more

  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With income tax rates set to go up on Dec. 31, Congress is hotly debating what to do next. But most economists agree: Keep them where they are. One option, to let the tax cuts passed during the Bush administration expire for only the richest 3% of taxpayers while renewing them for everyone else, is popular among Democrats and the choice of the Obama… Read more

It is clear that China is going to keep manipulating its currency — and crowding out every other exporter — until the world pushes back. So it was good to hear Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaking out this week on Capitol Hill, warning that an undervalued Chinese currency “makes it more difficult for goods and services produced by American workers to compete.” The problem is… Read more

As our economy meanders down the road to recovery, yet to hit its stride, the American dream slides out of reach for too many. Nearly one in 10 Americans can't find work. If you consider those who have given up looking or settled for part-time work, that number jumps to nearly one in five. Things are bad - and they are about to get worse. On Jan. 1, Americans will face the biggest tax… Read more

Congress' inability to make a decision about the fate of Bush-era tax cuts is contributing to the unemployment crisis facing the country, according to the Labor Day 2010 report by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). "Small businesses are America's job creators, responsible for 60 percent of the net new jobs created in the last decade," the report states. "But uncertainty… Read more

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Initial claims for unemployment benefits surged to 500,000 in mid-August, a level more typical of a recession than a recovery. The bad news confirmed what conservative economists have been saying for some time: The biggest Keynesian stimulus in U.S. history was a bust. Incredibly, some Keynesians who supported Barack Obama’s $862 billion stimulus now claim it fell… Read more

Every year, Medicare trustees deliver an impenetrable report that answers a single headline-worthy question: How soon will Medicare run out of money? Last year, the trustees estimated that one part of Medicare would be insolvent alarmingly soon — 2017. But then came the new health care law, sold to Americans as a way to reduce costs and shore up Medicare. The trustees released a new… Read more

With unemployment just under 10% and companies sitting on their cash, you would think that sooner or later job growth would take off. I think it's going to be later—much later. Here's why. Meet Sally (not her real name; details changed to preserve privacy). Sally is a terrific employee, and she happens to be the median person in terms of base pay among the 83 people at my little company… Read more

If it seems as if the tax code was conceived by graphic artist M.C. Escher, wait until you meet the new and not improved Internal Revenue Service created by ObamaCare. What, you're not already on a first-name basis with your local IRS agent? National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, who operates inside the IRS, highlighted the agency's new mission in her annual report to Congress last week.… Read more