Yahoo HomeBen Werschkul is a senior producer and writer for Yahoo Finance reporting on the intersection of financial issues and politics in the nation's capital. He has covered Washington for over 15 years. Before joining Yahoo Finance, he worked at The New York Times and CNN.
Yahoo FinanceThe college matched-savings program Congress wants to take national
Congress is thinking about taking an Arizona program - which offers an 8-to-1 match for college savers - nationwide.
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$3.2 billion is now available to give some Americans a break on their internet bills
Tucked deep inside a recent coronavirus relief bill was $3.2 billion to give some Americans a break on their Internet bills. And as of this week, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is officially online.
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Elizabeth Warren: 'There's a real issue' with environmental impact of bitcoin
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has many concerns over cryptocurrencies, including concerns over its environmental impact.
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Restaurant revival in US will rely on $28.6 billion in stimulus
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund received more than 186,000 applications in its first two days of operation.
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Elizabeth Warren responds to Biden's backing of COVID-19 vaccine patent waivers: 'I'm delighted'
On Wednesday, the Biden administration backed waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines, a move that delighted Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
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SECURE 2.0 retirement bill clears committee and moves closer to passage
Legislation that helps make it easier for workers to save for retirement cleared the House Ways and Means committee.
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A key stimulus program for small businesses is now largely out of money
After distributing more than $780 billion to small businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program is reportedly largely out of money and closed through most lenders.
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We are in a contest with China ‘about the most fundamental questions facing the world’: Biden ally
“We are in a contest with the Chinese government, with the Chinese Communist Party about the most fundamental questions facing the world” Rep. Tom Malinowski recently told Yahoo Finance.
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Google: We're 'very supportive' of talks around a global minimum corporate tax
Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, said she supports discussions to implement a global minimum corporate tax.
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The infrastructure deal may be bigger if Democrats decide to go it alone
Presidential advisor Jared Bernstein said the president wants a bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but if Republicans won’t work with him, “he will push ahead.”
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Stimulus checks: Government officials brace for a wave of scams
As Americans await their latest round of stimulus checks, scammers are already working overtime to steal them. The payments — which could begin arriving as soon as this weekend — are particularly easy targets. "It's sort of unfathomable," says Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter.
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When it comes to resuming many activities, 'I think we're going to get there by the summer': NIH director
“If there's a cloud on what otherwise looks like a pretty good horizon, it's these variants,” said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
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Covid relief package includes $86 billion to help troubled retirement plans
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is the culmination of the decades-long push to shore up some of the country's financially troubled multi-employer pension plans.
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Biden aide calls child tax credit expansion a ‘basic benefit’ as Democrats begin push to make it permanent
Biden aide Heather Boushey said the stimulus bill is “an incredible step forward to addressing the ways that inequality created fragilities across our society and our economy in 2020.”
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'One of my goals is to make paid leave permanent': Sen. Gillibrand
Two provisions could be a sign of long-term changes to the American social safety net if they eventually become permanent.
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The wealth tax can work because it’s ‘something we are already doing’ when people die: Rep. Jayapal
Three Democratic lawmakers are trying to address “a structural problem with our tax code."
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'They just want a forced savings account': New survey finds workers want more emergency saving options
In a survey, 42% of workers say they want their employer to divert a portion of their paycheck into an emergency savings account.
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Biden administration announces changes to the PPP, stimulus program for small businesses
The Biden administration announced a series of changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, the stimulus program that has offered forgivable loans to businesses around the country since the coronavirus pandemic began.
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The Trump ally who still heads the Postal Service will soon answer to Congress over delays
Louis DeJoy is still the Postmaster General. It's not that Biden or other Democrats are suddenly fans of the longtime Trump donor, it’s thanks to the quirks of how his position is filled.
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Bill Gates on sustainable investing: 'There's probably some Teslas out there'
Bill Gates has a net worth of nearly $124 billion, according to Forbes. One way he's putting some of that money to work is an investment effort to spur the private sector towards green innovation as a means to combat climate change.