Posted on 12/07/2012 7:42:43 AM PST by Starman417
There is a lot of talk of the upcoming fiscal cliff that is looming if a budget deal is not reached by the end of the year between President Obama and Republicans in Congress. If this comes to pass some disastrous consequences will hit us:
Among them are the end of 2011's temporary payroll tax cuts — the result of which will be a 2 percent tax increase for most workers.There will also be an end to several tax breaks for businesses, and changes in the alternative minimum tax (AMT) that could result in more people having to pay — the income range is currently between $45,000 and $200,000 — and higher tax payments for those who do.
Several of these existing tax breaks came from the George W. Bush tax cut bill of 2001, which were extended under President Obama until the end of 2012.
There will also be tax increases for higher income individuals to help pay for the Affordable Health Care Act (so-called Obamacare).
At the same time, spending cuts will take place in more than 1,000 government programs, including cuts in the defense budget as well as social programs like Medicare, through 2022.
But some programs are exempt from the BCA. Those are Social Security, federal pensions and veterans' benefits.
And if you want a personal picture of how the Fiscal Cliff will affect you personally, here is a calculator to give you a rough estimate. It's a very rough estimate, but it only takes a few seconds to calculate your rough share of the pain. And it is painful.
To which I shrug and say, "So what?"
None of this is pleasant, but in the larger scheme of things I actually hope that this happens. I know this will be quite painful, but we need to start feeling some pain. Since coming into office Obama has given us the largest tax increases since... George W. Bush. The over $4 Trillion in debt that we've added since 2008 is just a tax increase that has not been passed into law yet. No Republicans or Democrats have thrown out any kind of serious plan to deal with this debt. And yes, that includes Conservative hero Paul Ryan.
So I say that it's high time we start feeling the consequences of our actions. Abolishing the debt ceiling and giving the president a blank check to push us further into debt indefinitely is the equivalent to an alcoholic at the bar telling his bartender that the only way to get his tab paid up is for the bartender to remove any limit to it. To give another example if you have a credit card that's nearly maxed out and you're barely making minimum payments call your bank and inform them that the only way for them to continue getting payments is to raise your limit. And let me know how that goes.
Would a trillion dollar tax hike hurt our economy? Absolutely. But do future generations deserve a massive bill / inflation / lower growth? I don't think that our children and grandchildren should be punished for our sins. And if we are forced to feel the bite of what our government largesse really costs we'll pay a lot closer to what we're paying for. Big Bird might be a rounding error, but if we don't need something we shouldn't be buying it. The left can join into this as well - I'm sure that there are a number of defense projects they'd like to put into the budget cutting sights. Who knows, we might even get to eliminate programs that are proven to be useless like Head Start.
(excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
“Fiscal Cliff survival kit contents check. In them you’ll find: one forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days’ concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings. Shoot, a fella’ could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff. “
This may be stupid questions, but of what use is a budget deal for people who refuse to write a budget?
How to you avoid a fiscal cliff by acclerating spending?
Should this not be called a blank check deal instead?
My my my but isn’t the political class having a ball with this financial cliff nonsense.
Oh no, I know it’s a disaster, I know this.
BUT IT’S THEIR DISASTER!!!!!
How dare they call it a fiscal cliff when it’s THEIR OWN LEGISLATION THEY PASSED BY KICKING THE CAN???
Now I know the pubs, so they say those lying bunch of Blue Blood elite crap turds, and the Dems agreed to the pro forma plan that would go in effect should they not come to an agreement.
so they didn’t come to an agreement and NOW THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN! they knew it! Yet they do all this dooms day talking as if they didn’t do it. They make me ill.
I don’t trust a single Blue Blood Repub so far as you can throw them. I don’t think they want to reduce spending because many of them too bring home the pork.
I’m waiting for the Tea Party to rise and throw the whole lot of them out.
And when the Obama Machine comes begging for the debt ceiling to be raised, the Republicans should walk out of the House until the Democrats agree to do away with baseline budgeting!!!
NO DEBT INCREASE WITHOUT REMOVAL OF BASELINE BUDGETING!!
The fiscal cliff is a lot more hype than fact.
I will be OK, my kids and grand kids will have to fend for themselves.
Both of my children have masters degrees and any one of my grandkids is disappointed if they get a grade that isn't an A so they will be fine, but they may have to move to Singapore or which ever country becomes the most "merit friendly".
The USA was a grand experiment and unique in man's history but self absorbed liberals pissed it away and while it's sad, it won't effect my life style.
There are loads of good, hard working, Christian Americans that are going to get royally screwed but since I can't stop it I refuse to weep at the wailing wall {the Jews do enough of that for everyone}.
I am not leaving FR, and going to become a hermit, but I'll post less often, with little or no real passion because I just can't give a fat rat's ass about the American journey when the majority of Americans have become wagon riders.
I've given my last dime to charity and my only donation to my Church will be to specific projects with which I agree, no more second collections for the Aids victims of Africa or the tsunami victims of Asia, piss on them, let Ed Asner help them.
I will continue to financially support the local volunteer fire department, but that's self preservation, not charity.
As for the thousands of dollars of charitable donations that I once made, I can only say, "Go see the feds", I'm done with it all.
Sorry about the rant, but after the election, I've been unable to watch news on TV, listen to very, very little talk radio, and read hardly any political news.
MY best friend {lives in a secluded house in the foothills of the mountains} had his dish TV discontinued, cancelled his paper and listens only to country music, no news at all.
I know exactly how he feels, we give up, we went to war and we watched as young American heroes got slaughtered, and while we won the battles, the political pukes gave up over 50,000 American lives and millions of our allies and walked away.
Now this is how the free loaders want it? OK, I'm too old to care, good luck.
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