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thehill.com — Senate Republicans are planning a new push for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution when lawmakers return to Washington after the August recess.

GOP Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) will lead the charge in the fall, when Democrats plan to debate raising taxes on families that earn more than $250,000 a year.

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thehill.com — Liberal Democrats said they will vote for a $26.1 billion state aid bill when the House reconvenes this week but are committed to restoring the food stamps program funding that is being used to pay for it.

The jobs measure, which passed the Senate on Thursday, includes $10 billion for states and local governments to help them stave off teacher cutbacks and another $16.1 billion to help states with their Medicaid obligations.

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thehill.com — A number of old Republican hands warning of a deficit crisis have split with the GOP leadership over extending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts.

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), President Reagan’s budget chief David Stockman and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have each argued that extending the tax cuts — set to expire at year’s end — would increase the nation’s $13 trillion debt.

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washingtonpost.com — Medicare's finances have been strengthened by the new law setting in motion broad changes to the nation's health-care system, according to a government forecast issued Thursday, which says the fund that pays for older Americans' hospital care will last a dozen years longer than expected.

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nytimes.com — Medicare will remain financially solvent for 12 additional years, until 2029, because of the cost-cutting measures in President Obama’s recently enacted health care legislation, the program’s trustees projected on Thursday.

The financial outlook for Social Security is “little changed from last year,” the report said. In the short run, it added, the financial condition of the retirement program has worsened because of high unemployment, which has reduced payroll tax revenues. For the first time, money flowing out of the program this year exceeds money flowing in.

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huffingtonpost.com — The new health care law has significantly improved the prognosis for Medicare, extending the life of its trust fund by 12 years until 2029, and thereby delaying any need for dramatic changes in benefits or revenues, according to a new report.

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articles.latimes.com — Social Security and Medicare continue to face grave financial challenges even though the new healthcare law may provide added stability to the two massive programs, according to the government's annual review. This year, for the first time since 1983, Social Security is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes.

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latimes.com — Christina Romer, an economic advisor to President Obama, announced her resignation Thursday night, the second top White House economic official to step down.

Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisors, said she would leave Sept. 3 and return to her job as an economics professor at UC Berkeley.

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washingtonpost.com — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced Thursday that $79 million in federal grants will be made available to reduce foreclosures and assist families looking for housing.

The money, a 36 percent increase over last year's amount, will be awarded to 550 HUD-approved agencies that provide counseling on foreclosure prevention, homeownership, reverse mortgages and mortgage scams.

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politico.com — Senate Democrats set in motion a new plan Thursday night to free up their small business relief bill: guarantee votes first next month on small businesses relief from tax reporting rules in the Democrats’ own healthcare reform law.

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