The fiscal cliff and you
Here's a quick way to understand the battle over the fiscal cliff.
The fiscal cliff sounds like a nightmare. But it comes with real numbers that have real impacts on the lives of most Americans. Here's an in-depth look at them:
The fiscal cliff started to affect business decisions this fall. That's why you saw small declines in manufacturing in Friday's jobs report, for example.
It appears to be a worry for consumers now. The University of Michigan's latest consumer sentiment survey shows confidence dropping to a four-month low. That suggests households are concerned about a potentially sharp fall in their after-tax incomes.
The CBO data suggests they might want to be concerned.
The CBO estimates suggest the 20% of households with the lowest incomes might see their taxes rise by $412.
If you're in the middle 20% of income levels -- between $39,791 and $64,484 -- the average increase would be $1,984. If you're in the top 20% -- $108,267 or above -- the CBO is estimating an average increase of $14,173.
If you're in the top 1% -- with income above $506,210 -- the average increase might be about $120,500.
The threat of the cliff is the result of Congress' inability in 2011 to come up with a package that would satisfy everyone. It came after threats of a government shutdown, a downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard & Poor's and a short, intense panic in financial markets that sent the major stock market averages down.
The provisions of the cliff were part of a deal made by Congress in an August 2011 budget bill. It set up a so-called Super Committee of members of Congress and the Senate who were supposed to hammer out $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. If they couldn't come up with a plan, then a mandatory combination of spending cuts and tax increases would kick
The Super Committee couldn't agree on a plan, with Democrats and Republicans essentially deciding to wait until after the 2012 election to make decisions.
The CBO sees the cliff cutting the federal deficit but also causing a recession, just as the economy is gaining some strength, that might not end until the end of 2013.
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If this is fact or even less than half true home owners will not be able to pay their mortgages and just stop. Well there goes the idea,delusion,promise,lie or mis understanding that people under 250k will not see "one penny" of increased taxes. I think we should all send "Mesiah Obama" and his illusionists
a nice holiday impeachment petition. Basically what this chart is saying is that we all have too much money and the goverment manages it better than we all do. Amazing ......
Those of you who pity the poor rich folks who worked so hard to become successful are laughably pathetic. They don't work. Work is for inferior subhumans who don't possess the gene for inherited wealth. Yep, that's you too. And me.
The rich make money the old fashioned way, they inherit it. Then they invest in various criminal scams, swindles, con games, & embezzlement schemes. All you can do is hope you were brainwashed into buying that crap. Intelligence is no defense against brainwashing. Just appeal to their intellects, & the bright folks take the hook. They're so easy.
I hope I'm not stupid enough to buy their garbage, & bet you hope the same.
Here we go again. Yet another **** committee, a Super **** Committee no less, to sit around and play ****. Wonderful. Here's the bottom line folks: Things are gonna get much worse before they become a total cluster. There has been so many things converging for years to culminate into the perfect financial storm. The US government does not want to tell you the real truth about how screwed we Americans really are. Wanna know why? Because to quote Jack Nicholson-"You (we) can't handle the truth". Telling Americans about our financial realities is like parents telling their kids there will be no Christmas this year. And, because of this mentality, the wild spending went on and on, the waste went on and on, the corruption went on and on.....you get the picture, some of you won't get it though unless it's in high def....right? So, until spending is reigned in, until waste is drastically cut down, and until corruption in business and government is curtailed a significant amount, we will suffer as will future generations. What is the likelihood of these things happening? Well, let's be honest. The last item, corruption (and the inertia behind corruption-greed) really is the catalyst for the other two items, namely spending and waste. The probabilty of corruption being significantly curtailed: 0%. So, even the most simple minded American can put this one together (I think). Will we go flying off the fiscal cliff? Yes. It's just when we will. To make a simple analogy, we as a nation need to place a guard-rail at the top of the cliff and NOT have an ambulance in the valley. This way, the cliff may be scary high, but if we are going the speed limit and have the guard rail in place, we won't need the clean up crew down below. Too bad we won't make that turn....as the saying goes, "watch that last step, it's a doozy".
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