The Obama Administration has just launched Business.USA.gov/healthcare, a one-stop-shop website that will provide employers of all sizes educational materials on how the Affordable Care Act may affect businesses and help them compete. The site includes a wizard tool that is tailored based on size and location, so businesses can learn how the law helps them provide affordable coverage options to their employees while still meeting their bottom line. The site will act as a user-friendly hub that connects employers to informational content on tax credits and other provisions of the law from the Small Business Administration, the Department of Health…
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Read President Obama’s proclamation on Older Americans Month.
Included in President Obama’s December 17th proposal to avert the fiscal cliff was a significant change to government benefits, most notably Social Security. The President conceded to Republican demands to change the method currently used to measure inflation, which determines the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security and other federal programs. The President’s proposal would mean that inflation would now be measured using the chained Consumer Price Index (chained CPI), which would replace the current CPI formula. Although not included in the final fiscal cliff bill, the chained CPI is very much still on the table as a…
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There’s a lot of commotion surrounding President Obama’s jobs bill. Small businesses, for one, are lukewarm since their concern is less for tax-breaks and more for actual revenues. But the biggest detractors so far may just be charities and those that give to them: the bill proposes eliminating some of the deductions for charitable giving amongst high earners. The jobs bill comes out to a $447 billion price tag, and much of it would be paid for by limiting the tax deductions for charitable giving amongst top earners making $200,000 a year or more. Currently, these earners can deduct 35…
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If you and your small business utilize the services of the Small Business Administration, then you will want to follow President Obama’s budget proposals. The President’s 2012 budget proposal asks for $985 million for the SBA, a 45% reduction from last year’s budget, reports The Wall Street Journal. It’s not all bad news for business owners, though. Some of the savings, an estimated $20 million in fact, should come from the SBA’s efforts to streamline loan applications, re-engineering certification processes and generally making loan-management and accounting systems more efficient. It should be said, too, that the 45% reduction is not…
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President Obama on Tuesday strongly defended his tax cut deal with Congressional Republicans against intense criticism from his own party, insisting it was “a good deal for the American people” states the New York Times “I’ve said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts,” Mr. Obama said. “I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case, the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”…
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