“I think we're much more eager to know about our parents than we were in the seventies.” Quote by Francine du Plessix Gray
“OK, so $1 trillion is what it costs to run the federal government for one year. So this money's going to run through September of 2016. Half of the trillion dollars goes to defense spending and the Pentagon. The other half goes to domestic spending - everything from prisons to parks. So there's also about 74 billion in there that goes to the military operations that we have ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria.” YearsGovernmentRunningHalfMilitaryCostDollarsPrisonIraqSpendingDefenseBillionsOperationsParksAfghanistanSeptemberSyriaFederal GovernmentOngoingOther HalfPentagonMilitary OperationsDefense Spending Author:Susan Davis
“Most major domestic programs got more money this year, and they're used to reflect the priorities of the upcoming year. One good example is, the Secret Service is getting $268 extra dollars because it's a presidential election year and the agency's going to be under more demands.” YearsUsedSecretExampleDemandMajorsProgramElectionDollarsPrioritiesPresidentialAgencyExtrasMore MoneyGood ExamplesPresidential ElectionSecret ServiceYear OneElection Years Author:Susan Davis
“I was just reviewed by Robert Gottlieb, who was my editor at 'The New Yorker,' and he sort of wondered at the fact that I still need to exorcise my parents at my age. I think he makes a basic mistake in thinking that exorcism can ever be total. The exorcism of your parents will still be occurring on your own deathbed.” ThinkingNeedsStillsFactsAgeParentMistakeEditorsNew YorkersDeathbedExorcism Author:Francine du Plessix Gray
“As to why people like Joseph Lelyveld are writing memoirs, I think they're just catching on the coattails of the trend.” PeopleThinkingWritingMemoirTrendsCatchingCatching OnCoattails Author:Francine du Plessix Gray
“Another agency - the IRS - did not do as well under Republicans who control Congress. The IRS is largely flatlined in their spending, but they did get about 300 million more funding. But I can only be used to help people pay their taxes and answer questions. It can't be used for any other purpose.” PeopleWellsI CanHelpingUsedPurposeAnswersPayMillionsRepublicanTaxesCongressSpendingAgencyFundingIrs Author:Susan Davis
“OK, so this pack - tax package includes about 50 tax breaks. None of them are new. They were all existing tax breaks. What this did was make them permanent. It gives some certainty for people when they're filing taxes that they don't have to wonder if Congress is going to renew them year after year.” PeopleIfsGivingYearsWonderBreakTaxesCongressCertaintyPermanentPacksPackagesFilingTax Breaks Author:Susan Davis
“Most of them benefit businesses, things like research and development tax credits. But people will also benefit, too, from things like - the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit have been made permanent. They predominantly help lower-income families.” PeopleChildrenHas BeensMadeHelpingDevelopmentTaxesBenefitsResearchCreditIncomePermanentIncome TaxResearch And Development Author:Susan Davis
“Congress also did something new, which is, they delayed for two years two new taxes - one on medical devices and one on high-end health insurance plans. Those taxes are supposed to help pay for President Obama's health care law, but they're really unpopular.” YearsTwoEndsHelpingCareLawPresidentPayPlansTaxesCongressMedicalHealth CareTwo YearsSomething NewDevicesPresident ObamaDelayed Author:Susan Davis
“There's dozens of unrelated policy provisions tucked inside of it. I'll give you a sense of a handful of them. One is a visa waiver program change. It's going to make it harder for people who've traveled to places with terrorist activity to get into the U.S. They're going to have to go through an added layer of security.” PeopleGivingSecurityPolicyActivityProgramHarderTerroristDozenLayersTraveledHandfulProvisionVisaWaiver Author:Susan Davis