Tamara Lytle

Biography: Tammy Lytle has covered the White House, Congress, politics and breaking news in the nation’s capital for 23 years. She is the former Washington bureau chief of the Orlando Sentinel and her work has appeared in newspapers magazines and websites.

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Tamara Lytle 'sPosts

Congress Nibbles at Obama’s Budget

Posted on 04/18/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsNow it’s Congress’ turn. Last week President Obama made his budget proposal, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill already have begun trying to bend it to their will. On April 18, in fact, the House Ways and Means Committee will take up one of the most controversial pages in the budget book: the proposal to change the way that benefits under Social Security and other federal programs are adjusted for inflation. The “chained consumer price index,” or chained CPI, would mean …

Obama’s Budget Aims to Expand the Estate Tax

Posted on 04/16/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsJust a few months ago, President Obama and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill negotiated their way off the fiscal cliff and agreed to make the estate tax a mere shadow of its former self — so much so, according to estimates from the Tax Policy Center, that only 3,800 estates will owe any federal estate tax in 2013. President Obama’s new budget proposal, however, aims to turn things back around. It would raise the estate tax rate to 45 percent …

Are Taxes Too Complicated? What Do YOU Think?

Posted on 04/11/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & Savings | PoliticsSubtract line 12 from line 11 and then multiply by your frustration level. By a 2-1 ratio, American voters find the tax system too complicated, and by large margins have their federal income tax returns prepared by some someone else, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll. Older voters feel the most pain. The survey found that 68 percent of voters age 55 and older have someone else do their federal tax returns – the highest rate of any age …

What’s the Reaction to Obama’s Social Security Proposal?

Posted on 04/10/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsWe knew it was coming. Still, now here, it’s causing quite a stir. President Obama’s new budget proposes a change in the formula for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. Many Democrats are saying they disagree with their president. Many Republicans are saying they like the idea and want it implemented quickly. And advocates for older Americans are saying, “No way.” The proposed change, called the chained CPI, is a twist on the consumer price index, the formula that helps Social Security, veterans …

9 Things to Look for in the President’s Budget

Posted on 04/9/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

PoliticsThe GOP-controlled House of Representatives approved a budget proposal first. Then came a very different document from the Democratic-controlled Senate. Now thousands more pages of numbers will land with a thud on Capitol Hill on April 10. It’s the president’s annual budget proposal. Unless you’re an underemployed CPA or an incurable policy wonk, you probably won’t want to wade through all that. So here’s a short checklist of what you should watch for in the budget: A chained CPI. This twist on …

She Runs the Biggest Federal Agency — and Now May Land the Job

Posted on 04/8/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | PoliticsPresident Obama first nominated Marilyn Tavenner to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) almost 2-1/2 years ago. She’s been running the agency, the federal government’s largest, as acting administrator for more than a year. CMS has a $820 billion budget, oversees health insurance for 100 million Americans and is charged with implementing the health care law. Related: Sequester Fallout: Where Will Medicare Patients Get Chemo? On April 9, the Senate Finance Committee will hold her confirmation hearing. …