unemployment benefits

Citing an effective salary cut for new employees to help pay for the legislation, all but one of Maryland's Democrats in Congress bucked their own party to vote against an extension of a national payroll tax holiday.

Eight of Maryland¿s 10 members of Congress voted against a bi-partisan plan Friday to extend a national payroll tax holiday ¿ including two who were instrumental in crafting the deal ¿ citing concern over how the measure would affect federal employees.

New federal employees would contribute more than triple the amount paid by current government workers for their retirement under an agreement reached in Congress to extend a payroll tax break and unemployment benefits, two Maryland lawmakers who helped craft the deal said Thursday.

Candidates won't talk about their plans to cut Social Security and Medicare because they know the public won't support such action

Federal employees will be required to contribute $15 billion toward the cost of extending federal unemployment insurance under a tentative agreement struck in Congress that would also maintain the 2010 payroll tax break, federal worker union officials said Wednesday.

A major funder of legal services for the poor will shave its grants by at least 5 percent across Maryland – and that's with dipping into its reserves.

With the presidential election in full swing and Congress mired in gridlock, President Barack Obama used his third State of the Union address Tuesday to sound a populist message on the economy, outlining a series of policies he said would give the middle class "a fair shot" at prosperity.

Newt Gingrich is right about the need to cut back on handouts and get people to work, and saying so doesn't make you racist.

Congressional Republicans will flock this week to Baltimore for their annual retreat that will focus on strategy at a time when the national party has been criticized for lacking one.

Republican candidates deplore the predatory capitalism practiced at Mitt Romney's old firm, but they would do nothing to stop it.

Two Marylanders describe their efforts to get out of debt.

Employees at the idling Sparrow's Point steel mill will be able to get unemployment assistance from the staff of several Baltimore County agencies at a public fair next week, according to the county executive's office.

Saying the unemployed are lazy and undeserving of help does a disservice to many who are trying hard to find work.

The idea that unemployed people are simply lazy ignores the reality of what is happening: Most people who find themselves without a job are doing their level best to find one.

Jules Witcover: 2011 was marked by economic doldrums and political foolishness

Job creators who think paying unemployment insurance here is bad should try Paraguay

Gov. Martin O'Malley has asked a key lender to R.G. Steel to reconsider its decision to freeze some company funds, saying the move has contributed to the firm's decision to lay off workers at its Sparrows Point mill.

Recent action on payroll taxes and unemployment benefits bad for nation and economy

The owner of Sparrows Point steel mill told state officials that about 720 workers at the Baltimore County plant are being furloughed and expected back on the job March 4th.

Maryland's congressional delegation will have unusual influence in helping to resolve issues left hanging on Capitol Hill as two of the state's lawmakers were appointed Friday to help sort out differences between House and Senate legislation.

Extended unemployment benefits are hard on employers

Benefits in hand, unemployed are content not to work

By rejecting the Senate's extension of the payroll tax cut, the House GOP puts the U.S. economy at risk and reveals themselves to be certifiable

Unemployment insurance is like health insurance: You don't take it away just when people need it the most

Grover Norquist: Influential anti-tax activist's work has done nothing to limit the size of government

Republicans are once again protecting the rich at the expense of the middle class.

Sixteen Democratic governors led by Maryland's Martin O¿Malley have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to quickly broker a compromise to extend long-term unemployment benefits before the money runs out at the end of the year.

Maryland regulators warn of questionable unemployment benefits sites

Robert Reich: A return to the law of 'survival of the fittest'

The failure of the congressional "supercommittee" to strike a deal on deficit reduction has left lawmakers scrambling to address a half-dozen bills of major importance to Marylanders, from extending tax breaks to paying Medicare doctors to securing federal money for roads near military bases.

Newt Gingrich's immigration proposal still rests on the notion that it's "humane" to allow those who have broken our laws to escape consequences.

The days of honest work at honest pay are long gone in America, and it is crippling our economy.

It's clear that the public favors the basic outline for deficit reduction that President Obama and the Democrats have suggested; voters now need to pressure Republicans to do the right thing.

Congress takes a final vote to repeal a law that would have required governments to withhold 3 percent of contract awards to ensure that businesses paid their taxes. The idea was wildly unpopular and could have harmed the regional economy, business leaders say.

Catholic leaders, meeting in Baltimore this week, fail to put society's main problems front and center

A leading Democrat and the Republican incumbent running for Congress in Maryland's battleground 6th District turned their attention to the economy Tuesday, previewing a looming clash over the top issue of next year's election.

Jo Anne Schneider studies marginalized groups: refugees, the poor, people with disabilities — and lately, Americans who have been unemployed for months and months, which includes a lot of people who never would have considered themselves marginalized before.

Instead of more stimulus, we need tax reform, energy investment

Instead of more stimulus, we need tax reform, energy investment