Bandaid on a severed limb. A farce. A travesty. And yes RockMom-McConnell stinks. I didn't vote for him the last time and won't again should he run. Our country is in deep financial trouble.

 

Obama is the slickest (and sickest) politician I have ever seen, and nobody has the courage to truly explain to the American people where we are going. I support RTS and BluegrassCard for whatever position they want to run for.

I read that Rep Boehner went "Cheney" on Rep Reid in the hallway on Friday and told him what he could "do" to himself.

I read that Rep Boehner went "Cheney" on Rep Reid in the hallway on Friday and told him what he could "do" to himself.

 

I thought Clint Eastwood said you can not do that....

From a pure political viewpoint the biggest loser in this has to be Rep Boehner, correct?

 

Depends on if they finish off by tackling the cuts in the next couple months. If they don't he looks like the smart one. If they do then he and Reid are both big losers and McConnell and Biden are big winners.

I read that Rep Boehner went "Cheney" on Rep Reid in the hallway on Friday and told him what he could "do" to himself.

 

He shot him while quail hunting?

He shot him while quail hunting?

 

He went with the verbal assault utilized by VP Cheney.

From a pure political viewpoint the biggest loser in this has to be Rep Boehner, correct?

 

Boehner's biggest mistake in all this is not allowing a vote on Sandy relief. That is more of a political hit than anything else.

 

How about Cantor supposedly telling Republicans to vote for the bill and then voting against it? If I am a Republican, that disturbs me more than Boehner's actions on the fiscal cliff negotiations and vote.

 

Based on the above, I will be surprised if both Boehner and Cantor continue in their same roles in 2013. The House Republicans are a disfunctional group splintering into hard line factions and are a picture of the disarray throughout the entire Republican party. If the Tea Party faction gains control of the Republicans, we will see another Democrat elected president in 2016 and losses in Congress for the Republicans.

My thoughts.

 

1. I hate that they have not addressed spending yet and I hold little hope they ever will.

2. While I don't like increases on anyone particular group the small increase on those making over $400,000 won't amount to much as far as the effective rate goes. I think this was more of the D's trying to maintain they are looking out for the little guy while making the big bad rich pay their share. In the end it amounts to little.

3. I don't like the estate tax at any rate.

4. I don't like raising the capital gains on any amount of earnings. If anything this should have been lowered.

5. I like the extension of the child credit

6. UE - I'm a little confused on this one. What I read said that unemployment was extended for 1 year to those who have been unemployed long term. Does this mean the total amount of time you can draw is 1 year or is this one year added to the already 99 weeks they get, basically making UE available for 3 years?

7. Payroll tax - I don't mind allowing the payroll tax holiday to expire. It was probably doing more harm long term then good short term anyway.

Does the compromise address (I know, it's on the revenue side only) the cutoff for wages earned that are subject to Social Security contributions? I never did understand why there was a cap.

 

There is a cap because there is a cap on what can be taken out from social security in retirement. FICA was not originally intended to be a straight income tax or a welfare system, and originally the funds were not co-mingled with the general fund. Below is a nice link...dated, but constitutes a good discussion of the social security contribution.

 

Eliminating the Social Security Payroll Cap: A Bad Idea | NCPA

My thoughts.

 

1. I hate that they have not addressed spending yet and I hold little hope they ever will.

2. While I don't like increases on anyone particular group the small increase on those making over $400,000 won't amount to much as far as the effective rate goes. I think this was more of the D's trying to maintain they are looking out for the little guy while making the big bad rich pay their share. In the end it amounts to little.

3. I don't like the estate tax at any rate.

4. I don't like raising the capital gains on any amount of earnings. If anything this should have been lowered.

5. I like the extension of the child credit

6. UE - I'm a little confused on this one. What I read said that unemployment was extended for 1 year to those who have been unemployed long term. Does this mean the total amount of time you can draw is 1 year or is this one year added to the already 99 weeks they get, basically making UE available for 3 years?

7. Payroll tax - I don't mind allowing the payroll tax holiday to expire. It was probably doing more harm long term then good short term anyway.

 

Nailed it, especially on #1. :thumb:

This is the first of the issues that Congress has to address.

 

Next is the dreaded debt ceiling crisis that comes due at the end of February.

My thoughts.

 

4. I don't like raising the capital gains on any amount of earnings. If anything this should have been lowered.

 

Actually the markets were happy with this one. I do not see how they go lower. 15% is historically low. And going lower would make capital gains lower than the tax rate for a lot of upper middle class.

 

They are not done. They need to hit those making 100,000 to 200,000 a year. That is the sweet spot where there are enough families and enough per family revenue to generate some meaningful revenue.

This is the first of the issues that Congress has to address.

 

Next is the dreaded debt ceiling crisis that comes due at the end of February.

 

Next should be this one since they haven't really addressed it. This deal increases the deficit 4.6 trillion over 10 years. Thought it was supposed to be about deficit reduction?

Actually the markets were happy with this one. I do not see how they go lower. 15% is historically low. And going lower would make capital gains lower than the tax rate for a lot of upper middle class.

 

They are not done. They need to hit those making 100,000 to 200,000 a year. That is the sweet spot where there are enough families and enough per family revenue to generate some meaningful revenue.

 

This group is already hit very hard. It is just enough to have most of their income be taxed for FICA, it is too much income to get any kind of federal relief for education for themselves or their children, and this is likely a group of salaried professionals who invested a lot in their non-deductible education to make that kind of money. Hitting this group harder is going to take away a lot of incentive for two-income couples and carrying high student loan debt. Do you have another agenda?

Saw a rumor that Boehner will resign at a GOP conference meeting tonight. That would kind of make sense given his voting yes, going off on Reid, and delaying the relief vote.