BTW, here’s an item in the spending bill that survived the chopping block:

Senate approves bill to expand Social Security to millions of Americans – CBS

“Nearly 3 million Americans will receive full Social Security benefits under legislation passed in the waning hours of the current Congress and now headed to President Biden, who is expected to sign into law. 

“Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.”

While helping millions of low- and middle-income people, the bill also benefits many well-off members of Congress and federal workers on the government’s old pension system. The cost of the benefit expansion is expected to hasten the exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund by six months.

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