What the U.S. Learned From the 12-Day War
In 2021, Ron Dermer, now Israel's minister of strategic affairs, predicted that Jerusalem would become Washington's most important ally. That, he admitted, was a big claim for a country the size of New Jersey. But a hypothetical helped to test it: If the U.S. had to choose only one ally, which would it choose?
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Here's what's in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" passed by Congress
Washington — The House passed a massive spending and tax bill that includes signature policies of President Trump's second-term agenda Thursday, sending the so-called "big, beautiful bill" to the president's desk ahead of a July 4 deadline. Mr. Trump signed the bill into law on Friday afternoon. The House approved the bill in a 218 to 214 vote Thursday, after the Senate narrowly approved the bill Tuesday in a 51-50 vote that required Vice President JD Vance to break a tie. At the center the "big, beautiful bill" is an extension of Mr. Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was slated to sunset at the end of the year. The legislation would make most of the tax cuts permanent, while increasing spending for border security, defense and energy production. The bill is partially paid for by significant cuts to health care and nutrition programs, like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would add $3.4 trillion to federal deficits over the next 10 years and leave millions without health insurance. Republicans and the White House dispute those forecasts. Senate Republicans used a process known as budget reconciliation to pass the bill, which limits the types of policies that can be included in a simple majority vote. A handful of provisions that initially appeared in the bill were ultimately removed, including one that would have ordered the sale of public lands and another that would have paused state regulations on artificial intelligence. The House passed its own initial version of the legislation last month, with some key differences to the final Senate-crafted version. The lower chamber approved the Senate's changes Thursday, sending the measure to the president's desk. Here's what is in the 887-page bill: Medicaid restrictions The legislation includes restrictions on Medicaid, which provides government-sponsored health care for low-income and disabled Americans. The bill imposes work requirements for some able-bodied adults and more frequent eligibility checks. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in 11.8 million Americans losing health coverage under Medicaid over the next decade. The Senate parliamentarian determined that a measure cutting federal funds to states that use Medicaid infrastructure to provide health care coverage to undocumented immigrants, along with banning Medicaid from covering gender transition services, wasn't in compliance with Senate reconciliation rules. The parliamentarian also weighed in on what's known as the provider tax, which states use to help fund their portion of Medicaid costs, in a blow to the Senate GOP's initial plan. Senate Republicans proposed steeper cuts to Medicaid funding, in part by incrementally lowering provider taxes from 6% to 3.5% by 2032. The timeline is delayed by one year from the Senate GOP's initial proposal, after the issue became one of the bill's sticking points in recent weeks. It's a departure from the initial House-passed bill, which sought to lower federal costs by freezing states' provider taxes at current rates and prohibiting them from establishing new provider taxes. The bill also includes a rural hospital stabilization fund after some GOP senators expressed concern over how rural hospitals could be impacted by the Medicaid restrictions, allocating $50 billion for rural hospitals over the same period that the provider taxes would be lowered. Homeland security and immigration The legislation includes more than $46.5 billion for border wall construction and related expenses, $45 billion to expand detention capacity for immigrants in custody and about $30 billion in funding for hiring, training and other resources for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It also includes a minimum $100 fee for those seeking asylum, down from the $1,000 fee outlined in the initial House bill. The Senate parliamentarian ruled out the $1,000 fee for anyone applying for asylum. Increasing the state and local tax deduction, or SALT The package also includes an increase to the cap on the state and local tax deduction, raising it from $10,000 to $40,000. After five years, it would return to $10,000, a departure from the initial House-passed bill. The issue was a major sticking point in the House, where blue-state Republicans threatened to withhold their support without the increase to the deduction. But with no Republicans hailing from blue states in the Senate, the upper chamber has been contending with its own dynamics. Before the rule, taxpayers could deduct all their state and local taxes from their federal taxes, which some policymakers have said mainly benefits wealthy homeowners in states with high taxes, such as New York and California. But advocates for increasing the caps argue that the $10,000 cap is increasingly impacting middle-class homeowners who live in regions where property taxes are rising. Green energy policies The final bill passed by the Senate would largely terminate numerous tax incentives from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency programs that benefited consumers. It would end tax credits for new and used electric vehicles, installation of home EV charging equipment and insulation or energy efficient heating and cooling systems. The bill also ends the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which gives funding to nonprofit organizations providing financing for projects that reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in communities. Existing contracts and grants under the program are not affected. Restrictions on food stamps The bill still shifts the costs of SNAP, or food stamps, to some states. The program is currently fully funded by the federal government. The federal government would continue to fully fund the benefits for states that have an error payment rate below 6%, beginning in 2028. States with error rates above 6% would be on the hook for 5% to 15% of the costs. States are also given some flexibility in calculating their share. The package also aligns with the initial House version on age requirements for able-bodied adults to qualify for SNAP benefits. Currently, in order to qualify, able-bodied adults between 18 and 54 must meet work requirements. Both the Senate and House bills would update the age requirement to 18 and 64, with some exemptions for parents. Alaska and Hawaii could receive waivers for the work requirements if it's determined that they're making a "good faith effort" to comply. Addressing the debt limit The legislation would raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, going beyond the $4 trillion outlined in the initial House-passed bill. Congress faces a deadline to address the debt limit later this summer. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Congress to address the debt limit by mid-July, saying that the U.S. could be unable to pay its bills as early as August, when Congress is on recess. By addressing the debt ceiling as part of the larger package, Republicans in Congress aimed to bypass negotiating with Democrats on the issue. Unlike most other legislation in the Senate, the budget reconciliation process that governs the package requires a simple majority, rather than the 60-vote threshold to move forward with a bill. Child tax credit The current $2,000 child tax credit is set to return to the pre-2017 level of $1,000 in 2026. The tax credit would permanently increase to $2,200 under the bill, $300 less than the initial House-passed hike. Limits on overtime and tips deductions The bill would allow individuals to deduct a certain amount of tip wages and overtime from their taxes. The provisions would expire in 2028. The "no tax on tips" provision in the spending bill would create a new deduction for tipped workers, eliminating what they owe in federal income tax. Tipped workers would still have to pay state and local income tax and payroll taxes. The Senate version varies from the initial House-passed provisions on a few key points, including how much a worker could claim in deductions. The Senate proposal limits that deduction to $25,000, while the early House version was uncapped. Under the initial House measure, meanwhile, only people with annual income of $160,000 or less would have qualified for the tipping tax break, while the Senate version phases out benefits for individuals whose income exceeds $150,000 or couples whose income exceeds $300,000. Changes to standard deduction The bill seeks to permanently expand the basic standard deduction, which was nearly doubled in 2017. The increases will expire at the end of the year. What a new DOJ memo could mean for naturalized U.S. citizens July 4 holiday week expected to set record for travelers Group meets to handwrite the U.S. Constitution
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
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Does the "big, beautiful bill" eliminate taxes on Social Security?
As Congress was approving President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" on Thursday, the Social Security Administration touted the legislation by stating that it "eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries." That claim, which echoes previous promises by Mr. Trump to remove taxes on Social Security, may have come as welcome news for the millions of older and disabled people who depend on the program for income. So does the bill deliver? Not entirely. In a press release, SSA said that the tax and spending package, which the president is set to sign into law on Friday, "ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits." That figure draws on a June analysis by the White House's Council of Economic Advisers that said 88% of seniors — or 51.4 million people — on Social Security will pay no tax on their payments under the measure because their deductions would exceed their taxable benefits. The bill "includes the largest tax break in American history for our nation's seniors," CEA said, adding that "the deductions ensure that seniors who earned their Social Security through years of hard work get more money back in their pockets." Yet while it's true that the bill offers fresh tax relief for some people on Social Security, it is misleading to suggest that the measure does away with taxes on Social Security benefits, policy experts told CBS MoneyWatch. Rather, the bill offers relief by creating a new "bonus" tax deduction for beneficiaries. "While the deduction does provide some relief for seniors, it's far from completely repealing the tax on their benefits," Garrett Watson, director of policy analysis at the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, told The Associated Press this week ahead of Congress approving the bill. The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment. How does the "big, beautiful bill" impact Social Security? The bill doesn't eliminate taxes on Social Security, but rather introduces a temporary deduction that beneficiaries can claim to lower their federal income tax. Notably, that deduction applies to all of a senior's income — not just to Social Security benefits. Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., told CBS MoneyWatch the bill doesn't change the taxation of Social Security benefits. Eliminating taxes on Social Security under the bill was impossible because of a congressional restriction (dubbed the Byrd Rule after late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd) that limits what the Senate can include in a reconciliation bill like the Republican budget measure. What the bill does do is provide a temporary tax deduction of up to $6,000 for seniors aged 65 and older. The tax break is available to people with an adjusted gross incomes of $75,000 or less and $150,000 or less for couples filing jointly. The deduction is set to expire at the end of 2028. "Each spouse can take the deduction, for a total of $12,000, if both are 65-plus," AARP explains in its analysis of the budget bill. The deduction phases out for people who earn above those amounts. Social Security recipients under 65 and people above the specified income thresholds are ineligible to claim the new tax deduction. It also won't benefit the many low-income seniors who already pay no federal income tax because they earn too little. "Boosting the amount that you get to write off when you already get to write off everything does not help you at all," Kogan said. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan policy research group, said in a June report that exempting Social Security benefits from taxation would not change the after-tax income for the bottom 20% of taxpayers, noting that "those taxpayers are already exempt from taxation on their Social Security benefits." The biggest beneficiaries of the bill will be higher-income seniors, said Martha Shedden, president and co-founder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts, which focuses on Social Security education. "The people who benefit by definition have to be richer, and people who benefit the most are the richest people," Kogan added. More pressure on Social Security? Providing a temporary tax deduction is likely to help some Social Security recipients, but it could also worsen the retirement program's fragile financial state, Kogan said. Social Security is on track to deplete its trust fund by 2034 if Congress does not take action. "We already have a problem of not enough money going into the trust fund. This bill makes even less money go into the trust fund," he said. The Penn Wharton Budget Model, a University of Pennsylvania think tank that studies fiscal issues, estimates that eliminating income taxes on Social Security benefits would lower federal revenue by $1.5 trillion over 10 years and increase the federal debt by 7% by 2054. As the debate continues over how to shore up Social Security while offering tax relief to older Americans, one thing is clear, and perhaps politically unpalatable: cutting benefits. According to a AARP-funded survey from the National Academy of Social Insurance released in January, 85% of Americans think benefits should not be reduced, or that they should be increased, even if it means raising taxes on some or all Americans. "Virtually all Americans want their Social Security benefits to be preserved and are willing to do what it takes to ensure the program continues to provide meaningful support for future generations," said AARP Chief Public Policy Officer Deb Whitman in a statement after the survey was released. What a new DOJ memo could mean for naturalized U.S. citizens July 4 holiday week expected to set record for travelers Group meets to handwrite the U.S. Constitution
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
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Hamas says it has given a 'positive' response to the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza
DEIR al-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Friday it has given a 'positive' response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza but said further talks were needed on implementation. It was not clear if Hamas' statement meant it had accepted the proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire. Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old. Donald Trump has been pushing hard for a deal to be reached, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal. The Hamas statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while seeking aid. The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid. Most were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization, while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the United Nations or other humanitarian organizations, it said. Efforts ongoing to halt the war Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which the U.S. would "work with all parties to end the war.' He urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. In its statement late Friday, Hamas said it 'has submitted its positive response' to Egyptian and Qatari mediators. It said it is 'fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework.' It did not elaborate on what needed to be worked out in implementation. A Hamas official said the ceasefire could start as early as next week but he said talks were needed first to work out how many Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage and to specify the amount of aid that will enter Gaza during the truce. Hamas has said it wants aid to flow in greater quantities through the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the response with the press. The official also said that negotiations would start from the first day of the truce on a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in return for the release of remaining hostages. He said that Trump has guaranteed that the truce will be extended beyond 60 days if needed for those negotiations to reach a deal. There has been no confirmation from the United States of such a guarantee. Previous rounds of negotiations have run aground over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the destruction of the militant group. 'We'll see what happens. We're going to know over the next 24 hours,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when asked if Hamas had agreed to the latest framework for a ceasefire. 20 killed Friday while seeking aid Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least three Palestinians were killed Friday while on the roads heading to food distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Since GHF began distributions in late May, witnesses have said almost daily that Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centers. To reach the sites, people must walk several kilometers (miles) through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road. The Israeli military has said previously it fires warning shots to control crowds or at Palestinians who approach its troops. The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military. On Friday, in reaction to the U.N. rights agency's report, it said in a statement that it was investigating reports of people killed and wounded while seeking aid. It said it was working at 'minimizing possible friction between the population' and Israeli forces, including by installing fences and placing signs on the routes. Separately, witnesses have said Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians who gather in military-controlled zones to wait for aid trucks entering Gaza for the U.N. or other aid organizations not associated with GHF. On Friday, 17 people were killed waiting for trucks in eastern Khan Younis in the Tahliya area, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Three survivors told the AP they had gone to wait for the trucks in a military 'red zone' in Khan Younis and that troops opened fire from a tank and drones. It was a 'crowd of people, may God help them, who want to eat and live,' said Seddiq Abu Farhana, who was shot in the leg, forcing him to drop a bag of flour he had grabbed. 'There was direct firing.' Airstrikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza's Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes are sheltering in tent camps. Of the 15 people killed in the strikes, eight were women and one was a child, according to the hospital. Israel's military said it was looking into Friday's reported airstrikes. It had no immediate comment on the reported shootings surrounding the aid trucks. U.N. investigates shootings near aid sites The spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said the agency was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said 'it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points' operated by GHF. In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were 'GHF-related,' meaning at or near its distribution sites. In a statement Friday, GHF cast doubt on the casualty figures, accusing the U.N. of taking its casualty figures 'directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry'and of trying 'to falsely smear our effort.' Shamdasani, the U.N. rights office spokesperson, told the AP that the data 'is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian organizations.' Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the World Health Organization, said Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital operating in the south, receives dozens or hundreds of casualties every day, most coming from the vicinity of the food distribution sites. The International Committee of the Red Cross also said in late June that its field hospital near one of the GHF sites has been overwhelmed more than 20 times in the previous months by mass casualties, most suffering gunshot injuries while on their way to the food distribution sites. Also on Friday, Israel's military said two soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza, one in the north and one in the south. Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders Friday in northeast Khan Younis in southern Gaza and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area. The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is run by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government, and its numbers are widely cited by the U.N. and international organizations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. ___ Kullab reported from Jerusalem and Mroue from Beirut. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.
