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This week, the House Ways and Means Committee held a four-day markup to work on comprehensive tax reform legislation called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill, which was released by Republican leaders in the House last Thursday, would consolidate the existing individual tax brackets from seven to four, double the standard deduction for taxpayers, permanently reduce the corporate tax rate, cap home mortgage interest deductions, and limit deductions for state and local taxes, among many other things..These three-decade-old policies have been proven to be harmful and unhelpful, which is why I introduced H.R. 141, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2019, which will eliminate these counterproductive policies. Nationwide, nearly 1.5 million people are affected by the WEP, meaning those who receive a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security see those benefits reduced. For example, a teacher who spends his or her summers working a second job, or a first responder who leaves the force after years of service, but is not ready to retire, can see their benefits reduced by as much as 40 percent..On Monday, the CBO released its highly anticipated analysis of the BCRA health reform legislation released late last week by Republican leaders in the Senate. The report shows that if signed into law, the bill would leave 22 million more individuals uninsured than current law, and it would hit older, poorer people the hardest especially those between the ages of fifty and sixty-four with less than ,200 in annual income. Those individuals would see health insurance premium increases of 200 percent or more under the BCRA..If you are under age 65 and uninsured, be sure to claim the correct income if you purchase health insurance through or a state health insurance exchange. When you purchase health insurance through the federal or a state health insurance exchange, you may qualify for a subsidy that helps lower the costs of your premiums. In reality that subsidy is an advance tax credit based on income. If you received a subsidy in 2014, and your income is higher than you estimated, you could wind up having to pay some or even all of it back at tax time. If your income has gone up, contact or your state insurance exchange to update your information. Coverage for 2014 ends December 31, 201Open enrollment for 2015 is now underway and runs through February 15, 2015..Over the weekend it was announced that the Senate and the White House were able to come to an agreement about new legislation and it will be presented today. However, reports are that the GOP bill will cost about trillion while the House-passed bill has a cost of trillion. That means there will have to be major negotiations between the House and Senate once the Senate finally passes its bill..Even more surprising is what isn't showing up on the list - medical costs. The cost of medical care services still increased 2.5 times faster than the COLA, rising by 3.2 percent. That's nothing new. In many years medical costs have increased more rapidly than in 2020. Emergency coronavirus legislation last spring restricted what providers could charge for many COVID-19 related services, and large numbers of patients and their doctors postponed non-urgent care..TSCL does not give money to campaigns for political office and in one way that puts us at a disadvantage as compared with the big corporations. But we have something they do not have: YOU..Is the President over-reaching his powers? Should changes in immigration law be left up to Congress?.If you're preparing for a long sea journey and about to set sail in stormy waters would you knowingly board a ship without adequate lifeboats or an emergency plan? Dumb question, I agree, but this is what the nation's retirees and Baby Boomers are getting ready to do,. The upcoming election will be one of the most important votes we ever make to determine the future of our Security and Medicare benefits. But voters are headed to the polls with frustratingly few details about candidates' plans.