The good, bad & ugly of the ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

[Draggingtree]

The Washington Examiner:

The good, bad & ugly of the ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

 

January 1, 2013 | 2:43 pm | Modified: January 1, 2013 at 3:05 pm

Philip Klein

 

Senior Editorial Writer

 

When it comes to assessing federal legislation, as with most things in life, people’s reviews are often pre-determined by their expectations. It’s worth keeping this in mind as feedback comes in from the “fiscal cliff” deal that passed through the Senate in the wee hours of New Year’s Day and that is now under consideration by the House of Representatives.

Conservatives believe that higher taxes are a bad thing, that the tax code needs to be dramatically overhauled and that the true driver of long-term debt is out of control spending, particularly on entitlements. For those who thought it was possible to emerge from the “fiscal cliff” showdown without tax increases, with genuine tax reform and with real spending cuts that made fundamental changes to entitlements, this deal is obviously a nonstarter.

For those who assumed that President Obama’s reelection and continued Democratic control of the Senate at a time when the nation was facing an automatic $4.5 trillion tax hike would inevitably mean higher taxes without actual tax or entitlement reforms, the deal is less bad.

The Good

At the start of 2013,

The Bad

Taxes are still

The Ugly

Last month

 

[Draggingtree]

Fiscal Cliff Deal Kills Insolvent Obamacare Element

by Ben Shapiro1 Jan 2013

As part of the fiscal cliff deal reached by Congressional leaders and Vice President Joe Biden last night, the so-called CLASS Act – an integral component of Obamacare – will be repealed. CLASS Act – the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act -- is a new long-term entitlement program that even Democrats recognized was completely unsustainable

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/01/Fiscal-cliff-deal-kills-CLASS-Act

[Valin]

Fiscal Cliff Deal Raises Taxes, Delays Sequestration...And Will Cut Spending!

Nick Gillespie

Jan. 2, 2013

 

The so-called fiscal cliff - that combination of automatic tax hikes, expiring tax breaks, and supposedly ironclad cuts in government spending - has been averted. Who says government can't get anything done? Not only did president and both houses of Congress pull together at the very last minute to designate Salem, Massachusetts "the birthplace of the National Guard" (seriously), they also managed to:

 

(Snip)

 

It's a rotten deal, filled with precisely the sort of sad-sack posturing that we've come to expect and maybe even demand from our elected officials. But I am confident for two reasons (explained below) that this whole episode will mark the high-water mark of out-of-control government spending at the federal level. That's despite the best efforts and worst intentions of big-government Republicans and Democrats alike.

 

(Snip)

 

Is a bad deal - from whatever angle - better than no deal at all? That remains to be seen, since this deal really doesn't set anything in stone. First and foremost, there are large budget issues that have not been addressed in any way, shape, or form. The federal government has not passed anything resembling an actual budget in over three years. That process - back when it actually happened - starts soon in the new year. While both the president and the GOP-controlled House have produced their legally mandated documents, the Senate Democratic leadership has refused to execute what is arguably its most basic function. The result has been a government run on continuing resolutions (not a bad outcome, if you dislike spending; government expenditures have essentially been flat since 2009, when they ratcheted up dramatically due to last-minute Bush admin actions such as TARP and first-rush Obama initiative such as the stimulus). The government has also just about reached its debt limit again, too, which means that Congress needs to again raise the limit of money the feds can borrow. The last time that happened was in the summer of 2011, which gave rise to the plan that helped create sequestration.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

 

"And where are the clowns?

Quick, send in the clowns.

Don't bother - they're here."

Stephen Sondheim

[Draggingtree]

 

Updated January 1, 2013, 6:49 p.m. ET

Obama's Tax Bill Comes Due

Obama's Tax Bill Comes DueObama's Tax Bill Comes DueObama's Tax Bill Comes DueSo Congress has passed a bill to avoid the tax cliff, hallelujah. This is the way to look at it if you have a pre-Copernican view of politics where Washington is the center of the economic universe. The better way to see it is that the tax bill on the private, productive part of the economy is now coming due for President Obama's first-term spending and re-election.

The Senate-White House compromise grudgingly passed by the House is a Beltway classic: The biggest tax increase in 20 years in return for spending increases, and all spun for political purposes as a "tax cut for the middle class." But taxes on the middle class were only going up on January 1 because the politicians had set it up that way, manufacturing a fake crisis. The politicians now portray themselves as scrambling heroically to save the day by sparing the middle class while raising taxes on small business, investors and the affluent.

 

The nearby table shows the taxes that are going up this year

[Draggingtree]

"All the debate over spending is starting to remind me of the movie Jaws. We have some people who believe there is this big threat headed our way, but the authorities all tell us not to panic -- but instead of the mayor of Amity Island telling us the beaches are safe, President Obama is telling us we'll grow our way out of this deficit. ... People don't want to listen. But Math is coming. It's $16 trillion in debt and growing, and one day it will rise out of the water, and even those ignoring it will finally be afraid and gasp, 'We're going to need a bigger boat.' No, you idiots! Haven't you been listening? We need a smaller boat. One we can actually afford." --columnist Frank J. Fleming

[Valin]

"All the debate over spending is starting to remind me of the movie Jaws. We have some people who believe there is this big threat headed our way, but the authorities all tell us not to panic -- but instead of the mayor of Amity Island telling us the beaches are safe, President Obama is telling us we'll grow our way out of this deficit. ... People don't want to listen. But Math is coming. It's $16 trillion in debt and growing, and one day it will rise out of the water, and even those ignoring it will finally be afraid and gasp, 'We're going to need a bigger boat.' No, you idiots! Haven't you been listening? We need a smaller boat. One we can actually afford." --columnist Frank J. Fleming

 

 

(Here I go again!)

 

Trends that cannot continue...Won't.

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

 

But those only apply to the evil rich

[SrWoodchuck]

H/T:TheoSpark

[Valin]

Welcome to 2013 and your $200 billion tax hike — and more uncertainty

James Pethokoukis

January 2, 2013

 

(Snip)

– Payroll tax hike: $125 billion

 

– Income tax hike and the phaseout of exemptions: $35-50 billion

 

– Investment tax hike: $5 billion

 

– PPACA health care taxes: $38 billion

 

(Snip)

 

BOHICA

[SrWoodchuck]

BOHICA

 

Beware Obama's High Income Class Attack? Just kidding.....I know what it means....it was an Obama campaign slogan...

[Draggingtree]

Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal

 

By Hayley Peterson

PUBLISHED:00:00 EST, 3 January 2013| UPDATED:06:25 EST, 4 January 2013

Middle-class workers will take a bigger hit to their income proportionately than those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 under the new fiscal cliff deal, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Earners in the latter group will pay an average 1.3 percent more - or an additional $2,711 - in taxes this year, while workers making between $30,000 and $200,000 will see their paychecks shrink by as much as 1.7 percent - or up to $1,784 - the D.C.-based think tank reported.

Overall, nearly 80 percent of households will pay more money to the federal government as a result of the fiscal cliff deal.

'The economy needs a stimulus, but under the agreement, taxes will go up in 2013 relative to 2012 - not only on high-income households, as widely discussed, but also on every working man and woman in the country, via the end of the payroll tax cut,' said William G. Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center.

'For most households, the payroll tax takes a far bigger bite

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256972/Middle-earners-hit-hardest-revealed-workers-making-30-000-bigger-hit-earning-500-000-new-fiscal-deal.html

[Valin]

And Now It's Actually Time to Pay . . .

Carol Platt Liebau

1/4/13

 

Few items I have seen have offered the bitter satisfaction of this post on far-left Democratic Underground:

 

My paycheck just went down by an amount I don't feel comfortable with.

 

 

Yes, friend, welcome to Obama's America. That particular poster is complaining about the expiration of the temporary 2% payroll tax cut, but the sentiment is going to be echoed all across America pretty soon.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]

Updated: 8:29 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 | Posted: 8:29 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

 

Austin racetrack gets ‘fiscal cliff’ tax break

 

 

By John Maher

 

American-Statesman Staff

 

Circuit of the Americas, the new racetrack in Southeast Austin, could benefit from a tax break extended in the recent “fiscal cliff” negotiations.

 

A provision that detractors have nicknamed the “NASCAR loophole” allows auto race tracks to accelerate their depreciation schedule and possibly pay lower federal taxes as a result. The recent legislation extends the benefit to tracks placed in service after Dec. 31, 2011. The Austin circuit held its first auto race, the United States Formula One Grand Prix, in November.

 

“We are pleased with the extension of the tax provision http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/austin-race-track-gets-fiscal-cliff-tax-break/nTmNZ/

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

 

What we see with the fiscal cliff bill is everything we see as wrong with Washington DC.

It would be interesting to see what names are attached to these "Loopholes"....and who voted for and who voted against it.

[clearvision]

Same with the Sandy relief bill. Filled with Pork.

[Draggingtree]

McConnell, Boehner saved most of the tax cuts

By: Allan H. Ryskind

1/4/2013 10:47 AM

Here’s a question for many conservatives: Whom would you rather have negotiating a business deal for you–Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or those House Republicans who would have had us sailing over the cliff rather than accept any compromise with the president?

Personally, I’d hire the Minority Leader. Since the deal, middle class workers and businessmen have been happier, the stock market has soared, retirement accounts are going up and most of the Bush tax cuts that affect people like me have been preserved.

The Over-the-Cliff folks, alas, would have deprived the nation of every one of these good things because they didn’t want to raise a single penny on those making over $1 million a year–as if the increases would have seriously affected their incentive to work or their entrepreneurial spirits.

Even McConnell’s detractors should concede that he was not dealt the best of hands on November 6. A re-elected Obama won the popular vote, the electoral vote and virtually all of the battleground states. His party picked up two seats in the Senate after the pundits claimed a GOP gain there was a slam dunk.

In the meantime, McConnell and Boehner, with major obstacles from both Obama and the “Over the Cliffers,” should be honored for the very tough fight they’ve been waging on behalf of us taxpayers. Their harsh conservative critics, in my humble view, have not yet outlined a coherent case against them.

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/01/04/mcconnell-boehner-saved-most-of-the-tax-cuts/

[Chickadee]

McConnell, Boehner saved most of the tax cuts

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/01/04/mcconnell-boehner-saved-most-of-the-tax-cuts/

 

@Draggingtree, take a look at this CNN/Princeton professor's take on the tax cuts:

 

America lives under the shadow of George W. Bush

 

By Julian Zelizer, CNN Contributor

updated 9:42 AM EST, Thu January 3, 2013

 

 

 

Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and of "Governing America."

 

Princeton, New Jersey (CNN) -- Somewhere in Texas, former President George W. Bush is smiling.

 

Although some Democrats are pleased that taxes will now go up on the wealthiest Americans, the recent deal to avert the fiscal cliff entrenches, rather than dismantles, one of Bush's signature legacies -- income tax cuts. Ninety-nine percent of American households were protected from tax increases, aside from the expiration of the reduced rate for the payroll tax.

 

In the final deal, Congress and President Barack Obama agreed to preserve most of the Bush tax cuts, including exemptions on the estate tax.

 

When Bush started his term in 2001, many of his critics dismissed him as a lightweight, the son of a former president who won office as result of his family's political fortune and a controversial decision by the Supreme Court on the 2000 election.

 

But what has become clear in hindsight, regardless of what one thinks of Bush and his politics, is that his administration left behind a record that has had a huge impact on American politics, a record that will not easily be dismantled by future presidents.

 

The twin pillars of Bush's record were counterterrorism policies and tax cuts. During his first term, it became clear that Obama would not dismantle most of the homeland security apparatus put into place by his predecessor. Despite a campaign in 2008 that focused on flaws with the nation's response to 9/11, Obama has kept most of the counterterrorism program intact.

 

[Draggingtree]

3

Higher Taxes and a Crumbling Economy…This IS What America Voted For

By: Curt

Small businesses cutting hours, cutting employees or going out of business altogether. Taxes being raised on close to 80% of all households. Incredible amount of debt which will cause our credit rating to be downgraded which will increase are debt.

Increased unemployment and increased dependence on government will come, rest assured.

But of course this is what Obama wanted:

The rout was complete, the retreat disorderly. President Obama got his tax hikes — naked of spending cuts — passed by the ostensibly Republican House of Representatives. After which, you might expect him to pivot to his self-proclaimed “principle” of fiscal “balance” by taking the lead on reducing spending. “Why,” asked The Post on the eve of the final fiscal-cliff agreement, “is the nation’s leader not embracing and then explaining the balanced reforms the nation needs?”

Because he has no interest in them. He’s a visionary, not an accountant. Snip

So sorry Jim….taxes WILL be raised and our economy WILL continue to crumble.

Why? Because that is what America voted for http://floppingaces.net/2013/01/04/higher-taxes-and-a-crumbling-economy-this-is-what-america-voted-for/