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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..Representative Sheila Jackson Lee introduced H.R. 46 on January 3, 201It has since been referred.."Under current Social Security law, that is all that's required to later claim benefits," Hyland explains. "To file a claim, individuals must have a work-authorized Social Security number, and would become vested for benefits with ten years of earnings," Hyland says. "The oldest of those who are eligible for the deferred action could feasibly have worked illegally long enough to already be vested for Social Security - even for disability benefits," Hyland notes. This would add to the program's solvency problems since the Congressional Budget Office and Social Security Trustees have estimated that the Social Security disability trust fund will be fully insolvent by 2016.."Many food companies decrease the size of their containers, while keeping the same price," Joe said in his comments about price increases that he's observed. "Cost increases get masked when container sizes shrink." For example, after last year's hurricanes, a major orange shortage nationwide led to shrinking orange juice bottles. "Brands that originally sold in 64 oz containers, downsized to 59 oz and then to 52 oz - a 20 percent reduction in what our orange juice money buys today," Joe says..On the other hand under Medicaid, net drug prices are heavily influenced by two rebates that are required by law. Manufacturers of brand name drugs must pay a rebate equal to 23.1% of the average price that manufacturers charge to pharmacies. In addition, for generics, manufacturers are required to pay a rebate of 13% of the average price they charge to pharmacies..Two years is a long time for even Members of Congress to go without a paycheck giving them a good incentive to bury the budget hatchet. The government will again reach the federal budget limit later this fall. A group of Republican senators have been meeting privately with the White House to lay the groundwork for a deficit reduction agreement. President Obama included a proposal to cut Social Security cost-of-living-adjustments in his fiscal year 2014 budget. GOP leaders are trying to work out a compromise on a new spending agreement. TSCL is fighting COLA cuts and visiting Members of Congress. We urge you to send letters to the editor of your local media to educate the public on the importance of the COLA and to use examples of rising costs that illustrate the erosion in the buying power of your benefits..The base Medicare Part B premium that covers doctors and hospital outpatient services increased .00 in 201Overall healthcare costs are forecast to rise 7.5% this year - more than four times the amount of the COLA increase..Trustees Release Annual Reports.Mulvaney explained that the goal of the proposed cut to SSDI is to "test new approaches to increase labor force participation," which suggests that large numbers of ineligible people are abusing the system and need to go back to work. While Social Security disability has well-publicized problems with fraud and abuse, it's important to note that eligibility standards for Social Security disability mean that a person must have a condition so severe that he or she is not able to work. Thus, someone who truly meets the eligibility standards for disability, is not likely to ever re-enter the workforce.