Author: Martin Crutsinger
-
Tubman to be new face of $20 bill, Hamilton stays on $10
WASHINGTON — Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist who was born a slave, will stand with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin among the iconic faces of U.S. currency. The $20 bill will be redesigned with Tubman’s portrait on the front, marking two historic milestones, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced Wednesday. Tubman will become the…
-
AP FACT CHECK: Claims from the GOP debate
EDITOR’S NOTE _ A look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full story A look at some of the claims Thursday night and how they compare with the facts: ___ DONALD TRUMP: Families of the 9/11 hijackers were allowed to leave the U.S. around the time of the…
-
U.S. economy rallies to solid third-quarter growth
WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy powered its way to a respectable growth rate of 3.5 percent from July through September, outpacing most of the developed world and on track to extend the momentum through the end of the year and beyond. The result isn’t a fluke. It turns out the world’s biggest economy did a…
-
A more vigorous US economy appears to be emerging
WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy has rebounded with vigor from a grim start to 2014 and should show renewed strength into next year. That was the general view of analysts Wednesday after the government estimated that the economy grew at a fast 4 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. Consumers, businesses and governments joined…
-
Four reports signal good times ahead for U.S. economy
WASHINGTON – The U.S. housing recovery is strengthening. Factories are fielding more orders. And Americans’ confidence in the economy has reached its highest point in 5+ years. That brightening picture, captured in four reports Tuesday, suggests that the economy could accelerate in the second half of the year. It underscores the message last week from…
-
Medicare fund gets two-year reprieve
WASHINGTON – The government said Friday that Medicare’s giant hospital trust fund will be exhausted in 2026, two years later than projected last year, while the date that Social Security will exhaust its trust fund remained unchanged at 2033. The latest projections were included in the annual report of trustees of the trust funds. The…
-
U.S. retail sales rise in April on cars, clothing
WASHINGTON Lower-priced gas allowed Americans to step up their spending at retailers in April, from cars and clothes to electronics and appliances. The rebound from a weak March suggests consumers remain resilient in the face of higher taxes and could continue to drive economic growth this spring. Retail sales edged up 0.1 percent in April…
-
Obama budget: Trim Social Security, tax wealthy
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.8 trillion spending blueprint on Wednesday that strives to achieve a “grand bargain” to tame runaway deficits, raising taxes on the wealthy and trimming popular benefit programs including Social Security and Medicare. The president’s budget projects deficit reductions of $1.8 trillion over the next decade, achieved with…
-
Geithner: Obama won’t ask me to stay in a 2nd term
WASHINGTON — Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect to serve a second term as Treasury secretary. He said he doesn’t think President Barack Obama would ask him to remain if Obama won re-election.”He’s not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident,” Geithner said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “I’m also…
-
Jobless claims fall to lowest level in 4 weeks
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped for a second consecutive week, further evidence that the job market is slowly improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial applications for jobless benefits dropped by 11,000 to 448,000, the lowest level in four weeks. The new total was slightly higher than…