When President Obama released his FY2014 budget, he endorsed a plan to use an alternate measure of inflation – known as chained CPI – to shrink the cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries.

Social Security Programs

Social Security insurance covers more than just retirees; benefits are also paid to those with disabilities and family members of deceased workers. Combined, these groups received about $720 billion in benefits during fiscal year 2011.

The newly-updated Federal Priorities Database has state and county-level spending data for all three of these groups: 

Social Security retirement benefits

Social Security disability benefits

Social Security survivors benefits

Nearly 90 ...

President Obama in the Oval Office/ White House flickr

Today President Obama released his fiscal 2014 budget proposal, which set a record for arriving two months after the legal deadline of the first Monday in February. Here are the top five things to know about the new budget.

5. The president's budget would reduce Social Security cost-of-living adjustments through "chained CPI."

President Obama became the first Democratic president ever to propose reductions in Social Security benefits by endorsing an alternate measure of inflation – known as chained CPI – to shrink cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. The president plans to save $230 ...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said further deficit reduction must come from health care programs

Photo by Gage Skidmore/ flickr

When lawmakers struck a fiscal cliff deal on New Year's Day, they did not make any changes to Medicare or Social Security. But the debate over if and how to reform entitlement programs has only just begun.

To understand this issue, we should define a couple key terms. First, entitlement programs have their name because eligible Americans by law are entitled to benefits from Medicare, Social Security, and a handful of other programs in this category. Entitlement reform refers ...

One of the major issues not addressed as part of the recent deal on the fiscal cliff is the future of the major entitlement programs – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.Entitlements are programs that pay benefits to anyone who applies for them and meets the eligibility requirements for that specific program. Social Security and Medicare – the two largest entitlement programs – together account for roughly one third of total federal spending.Many analysts, along with congressional Republicans, consider these programs to be the main contributors to our growing federal debt. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who led GOP negotiators during ...

President Obama entering the White House/ White House flickr

A number of our Facebook fans expressed concern last week when they discovered that payroll taxes would be increasing in the wake of fiscal cliff negotiations. One person wrote in dismay, "What about all the months of discussion that increasing taxes on the middle class would hurt the economy?"

We understand your dismay. Here's what happened.

First of all, payroll taxes are special deductions from your paycheck that directly fund the Social Security and Medicare programs. Typically workers pay 1.45 percent of their wages into Medicare and 6.2 ...

The White House/ flickr

Last week I wrote a post called Fiscal Cliff Definition, with a simple explanation of the much-hyped, so-called fiscal cliff. (I also suggested that we call it a "fiscal obstacle course" instead of a cliff, because that's a more appropriate metaphor.) The next important question is: What's going to happen?

While it's anyone's guess exactly what deal Congress and the president will agree on, we do know the major components of negotiations happening right now. The final deal will involve some combination of the following:

Spending Cuts

Currently across-the-board spending cuts are ...

Because the Social Security program is an earned benefit programs – future beneficiaries pay into the system while they are members of the work force – it is often assumed that your benefits are based on your contributions to the program. In this model, Social Security would effectively operate like a type of government run savings plan.But that’s not the case. Social Security works as a pay-as-you-go system, which means that current workers’ contributions to the Social Security program are used to pay benefits to current retirees. Rather than functioning as a retirement savings account, Social Security actually shifts wealth ...

Paul from Northampton, Mass., wrote in to ask: "Some politicians say Social Security in no way contributes to the deficit. But for the last two years Social Security expenditures have exceeded Social Security revenues. How does this not contribute to the deficit?" Good question, Paul.

First, some key background. The Social Security program is funded with your payroll taxes:

Payroll taxes fund the Social Security program as well as part of Medicare. In most years, workers and employers each pay 6.2 percent of wages toward Social Security, and those taxes are usually more than enough to cover the whole ...

NPP's research team live-tweeted the first Presidential debate of the 2012 election, injecting budget-related facts into the discussion. The conversation covered a lot of ground, from taxes and deficits to spending on education, healthcare, and the military.

There's plenty of beyond-the-spin facts yet to come, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. If Twitter isn't your thing, not to worry–below is our top 5 fact-checking tweets from last night.

1. Is the federal government getting bigger?

Has the size of government grown under @barackobama? bit.ly/DebunkingBudge… #debates

— National Priorities ...

Lila Carpenter is from Belfast, Maine. She's starting her first year at New York University, where she'll be studying political science.

I used to be oblivious to the inner workings of my pay stub, and how the taxes I pay are used by the federal government. As a recent high school graduate, working two jobs and preparing for college, reading A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget has been a real eye-opener. As I prepare to vote for the first time this fall, and enter into college as a political science major, I am more aware of ...