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Reducing government deficits Mitt Romney 's way would mean less money for health care for the poor and disabled and big cuts to nuts-and-bolts functions such as food inspection , border security and education. Romney also promises budget increases for the Pentagon, above those sought by some GOP defense hawks, meaning that the rest of the government would have to shrink even more. Nonmilitary programs would incur still larger cuts than those called for in the tightfisted GOP budget that the House passed last month. Differences over the government's budget and spiraling deficits are among the starkest that separate Republican Romney and Democratic President Barack Obama. Obama's budget generally avoids risk, with minimal cuts to rapidly growing health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid while socking wealthier people with tax increases. It's all part of an effort to close trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Romney, by contrast, proposes broad cuts in go...

Social Security Insurance was established in 1935 as a financial safety net for older Americans. Eight decades later, all Americans pay into the system, with Social Security the largest source of income for citizens age 65 and older. During 2012, nearly 160 million workers will continue to have 4.2 percent of their pay deposited into the Social Security Trust Fund instead of the usual 6.2 percent, according to a statement from the IRS based on the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.  The program is based on contributions that workers make into the system. While you're employed, you pay into Social Security; when it's your turn to retire you receive benefits. You can start your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62 or as late as age 70 (if you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67). Your monthly benefit amount will be different depending on the age you start receiving it. The amount of money you receive from Social S...

  Starting next year, the check will no longer be in the mail for millions of people who receive Social Security and other government benefits. The federal government, which issues 73 million payments a month, is phasing out paper checks for all benefit programs, requiring people to get payments electronically, either through direct deposit or a debit card for those without a bank account. The changes will affect people who get Social Security, veterans' benefits, railroad pensions and federal disability payments. Tax refunds are exempt, but the Internal Revenue Service encourages taxpayers to get refunds electronically by processing those refunds faster than paper checks. About 90 percent of people who receive federal benefits already get their payments electronically, the Treasury Department says. New beneficiaries were required to get payments electronically starting last year, and with a few exceptions, the rest will have to make the switch by March 20...