U.S. Fiscal Cliff

[kuronosan]

Does anyone here really think the Republicans give a flying fuck whether Americans have more money or not?

[shaggnix]

have they found a way around needing votes? indirectly i'd say they have to give at least half a shit then. not a flying fuck tho, no.

[Salodin]

have they found a way around needing votes? indirectly i'd say they have to give at least half a shit then. not a flying fuck tho, no.

Or they could just not give a fuck, then spin it to sound like they do. Business as usual.

[Acevalefor]

I sincerely hope that what Cantih suggested might happen actually does happen. I am tired of hearing about Bush tax cuts as if he were a god and his tax cuts were baby jesus. The switch from Bush era tax cuts to new legislation written by a new congress with support from both sides of the aisle may do much more to help avoid a double-dip depression than trying to renew some parts and remove other parts of the current tax cuts.

[Bregor]

i may be overestimating the masses here, but surely even the dumbest americans can see that ~300$/person not being spent on going out to eat, new tires, gadgets/gizmos, etc. would be bad for the economy. to me this just makes the republicans look greedy, and you'd have to spin it pretty hard to make it look otherwise. but somehow i feel that many will just plug their ears, close their eyes, and mumble "nothing gets done, presidents fault, nothing gets done, presidents fault"

I generally agree with this. Lower and middle class people spend money in the economy, which is why having their tax cuts expire would be really bad. It's why consumer confidence indexes are important to coming out of a recession, and it always kills me when people try the excuse, "WHY DO YOU NEED GOV'T HANDOUTS WHEN YOU HAVE A FLATSCREEN TV?" I suppose people asking for tuition assistance or unemployment should liquidate everything they have and huddle in an abandoned building or something. On the other hand, rich people hoard their shit like Scrooge McDuck. They already have everything money can buy, and they aren't fucking "job creators." The GOP wanting to keep the Bush tax cuts for everyone is really counter-productive when it comes to the top tax brackets.

Also, people classifying middle class at around $50K and upper class at $250K is really out of touch. Living in an urban area, there's no way in hell $50K gets you much of anything around here.

[shaggnix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=gMuA8I2M5l0

relevant

[archibaldcrane]

Also, people classifying middle class at around $50K and upper class at $250K is really out of touch. Living in an urban area, there's no way in hell $50K gets you much of anything around here.

Well, they aren't going to call people making $50k a year "poor".

Because they aren't.

[kuronosan]

I make that much on my own and i live comfortably but I'm one medical bill away from fuckland.

[archibaldcrane]

I think most middle class people are a medical problem away from being fucked.

hooray obamacare

[shaggnix]

I think most middle class people are a medical problem away from being fucked.

hooray obamacare

bad troll attempt? hows that connected to obamacare?

granted i work in a hospital in MA (benefits slightly better than most according to rumor), but with the way extended sick leave and short term disability ins. works, a medical problem would actually double my income. women actually get this for 3 months solid for maternity leave /jealous

[archibaldcrane]

Obamacare will provide much easier access to health care for large groups of lower middle class in 2014, how is that unrelated?

[Outlaw]

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2...p-earners?lite

Boehner led Republicans in offering a counter-proposal to Obama's own fiscal plan; the GOP proposal called for $800 billion in new revenue due to closing loopholes and deductions, though it would not increase tax rates on any Americans.

This is just going to be back and forth for a while.. It just blows my mind how super rich people can be that opposed to a higher rate.

[shaggnix]

my apologies, i took your comment as sarcastic, i believe you meant it literally

[kuronosan]

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2...p-earners?lite



This is just going to be back and forth for a while.. It just blows my mind how super rich people can be that opposed to a higher rate.

Really?

[Andalusian girls]

eliminating exemptions and deductions = functionally raising taxes

the reason Republicans want to avoid actually raising the rate is because a lot of small businesses file tax returns as individuals, better to say close a tax exemption for buying a yacht instead of tacking a 3% tax burden on some fishing goods store

but Obama's plan calls for 600 billion in exemption elimination coupled with 950 billion in rate increases for a nominal total of 1.55 trillion in new revenue. that's a 750 billion dollar gap between the two plans. plus the Republican plan reforms entitlement programs to cut their expenditures which the White House is probably never going to go for

[archibaldcrane]

Great, now Obamas doing the "unspecified tax exemption elimination" thing too.

Vague tax plans infuriate me.

[Dantrag]

Someone please explain to me why a small business files their taxes as an individual instead of as a business and then their salary that they pay themselves as their taxes. Or hell, don't even pay yourself technically and just write it off.

[Andalusian girls]

i think rather than eliminate any one exemption or deduction they'll keep all the existing codes in place but cap it at a specific number, say $15,000 or $25,000 annually per individual tax return. it makes the math a lot easier and should avoid some of the raucous infighting over saving this or that favored exemption

[quannum]

This is the correct answer.

relevant

[Andalusian girls]

Someone please explain to me why a small business files their taxes as an individual instead of as a business and then their salary that they pay themselves as their taxes. Or hell, don't even pay yourself technically and just write it off.

if they are a sole proprietorship all profit from the business is seen as income, a fraudulent "write-off" would be caught in about ten seconds in an audit and the owner would eat tax evasion charges; it's not that easy to defraud the IRS without a room full of corporate lawyers and accountants.