First Thoughts: The endgame

With three weeks to go to avoid the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama will travel to a Detroit auto plan and attempt to sell his plan to raise taxes on the top two percent of Americans.

The “fiscal cliff” end game… If there’s going to be a deal, Obama, Boehner, and Congress need to start the heavy lifting ASAP… Kristol vs. the Wall Street Journal on caving on the tax rates… Motoring! Obama delivers remarks at 2:00 pm ET at a Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, MI… And in Michigan, the president will set foot in the state featuring the nation’s latest labor battle… The hits keep on coming for Susan Rice… The upcoming immigration push… Hillary and 2016… And meet Markwayne Mullen.

*** The end game: We’ve told you that the last couple of weeks in Washington’s fiscal debate have mostly been about P.R. and posturing. Like a student in college or a reporter working in the news business, the real work in Congress typically doesn’t happen until there’s a real deadline that’s rapidly approaching. Well, we’ve now entered that deadline phase in the negotiations between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner. If the plan is to get something passed by Friday, Dec. 21 (right before the Christmas holiday), then the legislation has to be written by Dec. 18. And that means that Obama and Boehner must reach an agreement by Dec. 14-15, if there’s going to be a deal. So the time for posturing and P.R. is over. This week, we’ve reached the phase where both sides will begin rolling up their sleeves to do the heavy negotiating. Both Obama and Boehner know this, which is why they did meet behind closed doors yesterday. The question now is: Will there be a BIG deal that includes serious entitlement hits in addition to major tax reform? Or will it be JUST taxes and a punt until the debt ceiling? There’s not much of an “in between” at this point.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, talks with reporters outside his office in the Capitol Dec. 7, 2012 in Washington, DC.

*** Kristol vs. the Wall Street Journal: In addition to yesterday’s news that the president and the speaker met, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) became the latest GOP lawmaker to suggest that Republicans acquiesce on raising tax rates on the wealthy to get entitlement cuts. And that’s a stance the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page today criticizes. “So it's a shame that Republicans are playing into Mr. Obama's hands, negotiating in public among themselves, prematurely giving up on the tax issue and undermining House Speaker John Boehner in the process. Mr. Obama isn't going to blink on the budget if he thinks Republicans are going to blink first, and so far the emerging GOP position seems to be to surrender on taxes first and hope Mr. Obama will have mercy on them later on entitlements.” But the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol hits back at the Journal. “Most Republicans will go along soon after January 1 with what will now be the Democrats' tax cutting agenda. If the House Republicans now follow the Wall Street Journal editors over the cliff, the only effect, I'm afraid, will be to turn a manageable tactical retreat in December into a panicked strategic rout in January.” There is good news for Boehner in all of this: The lack of consensus among conservatives gives Boehner more running room to cut the deal he thinks is best, rather than over-worrying about specific conservative constituencies. Remember, the House GOP leadership won’t say it publicly, but they’ve signaled privately that under the RIGHT circumstance, they’d go to the floor of the House with less than a majority of the majority.

Former Michigan Republican Governor John Engler, who is the president of the business roundtable, joins The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd to talk about President Barack Obama's trip the Michigan, the fiscal cliff, and Michigan's 'right to work' law.

*** Motoring! Your White House fiscal-cliff photo-op of the day takes place in Michigan, where the president delivers remarks at a Daimler Detroit Diesel plant at 2:00 pm ET in Redford. Per the Detroit Free Press, Daimler, which owns Detroit Diesel, is announcing “a new investment to expand U.S. production and jobs... The White House said the investment is expected to be $100 million or more and, with it, Daimler Trucks North America will become the first heavy-duty vehicle equipment manufacturer on the continent to build a fully integrated powertrain from on production facility.” So today’s even will be a mixture of the fiscal cliff and this Daimler news.

*** Michigan’s labor battle: Yet when Obama visits Michigan, he’ll be setting foot in the state featuring the nation’s latest labor battle. “With Michigan lawmakers poised Tuesday to give final passage of right-to-work legislation, unions and their supporters plan to mass outside the Capitol that day as part of a last-ditch bid to derail the fast-moving campaign to limit labor's power,” the Detroit News says. “If lawmakers reconcile the bills and pass a final version Tuesday — as expected — Gov. Rick Snyder has said he will sign it, making Michigan the 24th right-to-work state and dealing a major blow to organized labor in one of its traditional strongholds.” Out of all the new Republican governors who were elected in 2010, Michigan’s Rick Snyder was always viewed as the least ideological of the bunch. So when Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio, or Rick Scott in Florida were pursuing controversial changes and legislation and confronting the labor movement, Snyder -- who calls himself “one tough nerd” -- stayed away from the ideological wars and focused on the economy. In fact, he even appeared to support Obama’s auto bailout. But now the Michigan governor finds himself knee deep in the same kind of controversy we saw in Wisconsin and Ohio. By the way, while we do expect Snyder to greet the president at the airport, don’t expect to see Snyder with the president at the Chrysler event because it’s taking place at a UAW facility.

*** Hits keep coming for Rice: It’s no longer Benghazi, or even the Keystone XL Pipeline. Critics of Susan Rice are now pointing to the Obama administration’s failure to intervene in the atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The New York Times: “Specifically, these critics — who include officials of human rights organizations and United Nations diplomats — say the administration has not put enough pressure on Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, to end his support for the rebel movement whose recent capture of the strategic city of Goma in Congo set off a national crisis in a country that has already lost more than three million people in more than a decade of fighting. Rwanda’s support is seen as vital to the rebel group, known as M23.” And the Times reports that Rice has been viewed as shielding Kagame. And then there’s a New York Times op-ed from journalist Salem Solomon, who accuses Rice of showing “a surprising and unsettling sympathy for Africa’s despots.” This is the problem for Rice as long as President Obama doesn’t officially appoint her (or John Kerry) to fill the secretary of state position: She’s dangling like a piñata for critics to whack, without an official campaign to defend her. But with the fiscal cliff taking up more and more time and this secretary of state issue becoming such a headache for the administration, there’s a very real chance the president doesn’t announce any new cabinet members until AFTER the new year.

*** The upcoming immigration push: Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times noted that the Obama White House is preparing for a big push on comprehensive immigration reform after the “fiscal cliff” negotiations end. “Senior White House advisors plan to launch a social media blitz in January, and expect to tap the same organizations and unions that helped get a record number of Latino voters to reelect the president. Cabinet secretaries are preparing to make the case for how changes in immigration laws could benefit businesses, education, healthcare and public safety. Congressional committees could hold hearings on immigration legislation as soon as late January or early February.” More: “Democratic strategists believe there is only a narrow window at the beginning of the year to get an initiative launched in Congress, before lawmakers begin to turn their attention to the next election cycle and are less likely to take a risky vote on a controversial bill.”

*** Hillary and 2016: On Sunday, the New York Times ran a “Hillary 2016” story, and we all should prepare for these kind of stories once a month until she decides to run (or not) for president. “Right now, aides and friends say, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s plan looks like this: exit the State Department shortly after Inauguration Day and then seclude herself to rest and reflect on what she wants to do for the next few years. Those who have invited her for 2013 engagements have been told not to even ask again until April or May.” The Times does make this important point: If she does want to keep the presidential door open, her options are limited. “The more serious she is about 2016, the less she can do — no frank, seen-it-all memoir; no clients, commissions or controversial positions that could prove problematic. She will be under heavy scrutiny even by Clinton standards, discovering what it means to be a supposedly private citizen in the age of Twitter. With the election four years away — a political eon — she will have to tend and protect her popularity, and she may find herself in a cushy kind of limbo, unable to make many decisions about her life until she makes the big one about another White House try.”

*** Meet Markwayne Mullin: NBC’s Carrie Dann has profiled 10 new members to watch in the next Congress. Today’s profile: Markwayne Mullen. When his father's illness forced Mullin to quit college and take over the family plumbing business, the 20-year-old and his wife turned a flailing enterprise into a small eastern Oklahoma empire. Mullin, now 35, won the House seat vacated by retiring Rep. Dan Boren, running under the banner "A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician!" The Tulsa native -- a social conservative who vehemently opposes "amnesty" proposals -- has promised to take a no-frills attitude to the halls of Congress. Casually dressed on election night, he joked with supporters that he defied his campaign staff's request that he wear a suit to deliver his victory speech. "They got me this far, and boots are going to take me all the way there and bring me all the way back" from Washington, he said.

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Congress is uncle Scrooge! Takes from the poor and gives to the rich Corporations via tax breaks and loopholes. A NET tax Corporate rate of 16.8% isn't going to get the job done paying our bills! Oh how we have changed from 1955! Then the NET rate was 39%.

Patently ridiculous to be discussing tax rate changes on the PEOPLE and not also talk about tax rate changes for business by dumping all those tax breaks and loopholes.

Corporate profits have been $1 trillion each of the last three years. Why are the jobs still going overseas?

It's because Obama doesn't have a brain to stop it!

  • 2 votes
Reply#185 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:11 PM EST

This is a repost of mine from earlier, and my sources and opinons mean nothiing as well as all of yours, for you can find anything on the web to fit your need!

You can demand all you want on the blogs but unless you do the following it does not matter! There is no upcoming election that can solve these issues.

"We can all post our beliefs & crap here, but how many of us have written our elected represenitive in Washington.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) http: //boehner.house.gov/contact/ phone 202-225-6205
Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) http: //cantor.house.gov/contact/ phone 202-225-2815
Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) https: //forms.house.gov/kevinmccarthy/webforms/issue— … phone 202-225-4965"

Tell them how you feel about taxes going up on 98% to all of us, just to spare the 2%.
Write the congressman of your own district as well.

I am actually ok with all the tax cuts going away if thats what it takes to get the 2% to pay their fair share!
HOLD YOUR GROUND 44!

  • 1 vote
Reply#186 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:11 PM EST

This data comes directly off the Congressional Budget Office website in a July 10, 2012 report. Look under “Topics-Taxes- Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes”. It lists the “Share of Individual Income Tax Liabilities – Supplemental Data” by various income groups. The data shows that those in the top 20% of annual household incomes (above $80,000) have shown a consistent increasing share of the income tax burden while all other income groups have shown a decrease:

Share of Federal Income Tax Liabilities:

Income Group....2009.......2000........1990........1979

1st 20%...........(-)6.6%....(-)1.6%....(-)0.4%.....0.0%

2nd 20%...........(-)3.5%.......1.2%.......3.3%.......4.1%

Mid 20%..............2.7%.......5.7%.......8.9%......10.7%

4th 20%..............13.4%......13.5%.....17.8%.....22.0%

Top 20%............94.1%.......81.2%.....70.3%.....65.0%

Top 1%..............38.7%.......36.6%.....23.8%.....18.4%

If anyone is not paying their "fair share" it is those in the middle class. It is the middle class and below who got the biggest benefits from the Bush tax cuts.

  • 2 votes
#186.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:14 PM EST

And the 4th/ top 20, and the 2% dont miss a meal .........Trust me....!

We have heard all this Bull before. Our country needs the Well to do. To do their PART

ITs that SIMPLE!!!!!

  • 1 vote
#186.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:16 PM EST

Peter The left will castrate you for pointing out the truth!!! They thrive on misinformation!

  • 2 votes
#186.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:17 PM EST
Reply

Thats all they do is retain the house. Nothing ever gets done there.

    Reply#187 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:11 PM EST

    The GOP and tea bagger jerg offs will lose many seats every two years,,watch it play out people

    Should be fun to see the red assmhole bleed

    • 1 vote
    Reply#188 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:11 PM EST

    About that you are right! We will then become a 1 party socialist dictatorship. By the way--look up "Obama's concentration camps"--there are 800 of them in the USA--that should please you

    • 1 vote
    #188.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:16 PM EST

    You people will believe anything the 9 to1 ratio media tells you.

      #188.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:20 PM EST

      Just look it up -- don't take my word for it

        #188.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:27 PM EST
        Reply

        Now that he has discovered that he won't see Barack Obama as a one term president John Boehner must now be concerned about his own legacy. Will he be a true leader, able to handle the extremists as well as the middle or will he cowtow to the extremists and lose credibility with a majority of Americans? Will he go down in flames like Newt Gingrich or will he retire, when he does, proudly knowing that he led his party and the House to accomplish great things? Will his legacy be renaming post offices and highways or will he be credited with being an integral part of working with the President to get the people's work done.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#189 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:12 PM EST

        Not while Eric Cantor is making the calls.

          #189.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:22 PM EST
          Reply

          repost;

          Boehner and Republicans have known before the President got re-elected. They basically were hoping he would go AWAY after the election, WELL he has not and the DEAL still stands.

          Boehner is stalling. He has no intentions of Saving the Cliff. Listen to me...."He has no INTENTIONS of making a DEAL".........WE are going off the Cliff, folks.

          WE WILL BLAME IT ON REPUBLICANS and WE WILL VOTE THEIR ASSES OUT ....ASAP!

          Get ready for NOTHING...........Boehner is just taking up FACE TIME!

          He has Already been BOUGHT and PAID for ........Beleive that!

          • 2 votes
          Reply#190 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:12 PM EST

          ... and in a poll taken between Nov. 28th and Dec. 2, 53% of Americans hold the Republicans responsible for this pending train wreck, while only 27% of Americans hold the President responsible.

          That's nearly 2:1.

          To be clear, going over the cliff will have little to no impact on the likes of the Koch brothers, currently the 3rd and 4th richest Americans and the primary funding source of the Tea Party.

          Going over the cliff will adversely impact the more-than 97% less-fortunate of us.

          http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57557007-10391739/poll-gop-to-blame-if-fiscal-cliff-talks-fail/

          • 3 votes
          Reply#191 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:12 PM EST

          In 2014,there will be a lot less of the tea Taliban,and more real humans installed into con gress

          • 2 votes
          Reply#192 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:12 PM EST

          In 2012 the Reps take back the Senate. Obama is a lame duck and his political influence wains every day that passes.

          • 1 vote
          #192.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:16 PM EST

          You have been saying that for 2 yrs. The majority of the country elected a republican congress AGAIN last month. Get used to it.

          After 2008-2010 congress, the people learned not to let the democrats touch the check book.

          • 1 vote
          #192.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:19 PM EST

          In 2014 - the Republicans will LOSE even more in the House and Senate if they remain the obstructionist party. Let them. This will then cost them the election in 2016 as well. Texas, Georgia, and Arizona will come into play, and the GOP stronghold will begin to CRUMBLE.

          KevinT

          People have learned to NOT let the GOP have the checkbook either. I mean 19 times they voted to raise the debit ceiling in the BUSH years.. an 11 TRILLION dollar debt as well. OH yes, the GOP is so fiscally responsible too.

          • 3 votes
          #192.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:19 PM EST

          I cannot wait to vote those stingy ass Republicans and stale ass teabags out in .....2014.....beleive that!

          In due time!

          From the words of the great Ray Charlles........"Hit the Road Jack"

          • 1 vote
          #192.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:22 PM EST

          I am sorry Peter but you are living in a fantasy world just like Carl Rove on election night. The GOP will wither and die like the Wig Party they spawned from. The Tea Party has become an irrelevant aberration. Even the older GOP people like James Bakker (google him if you are too young to remember him) says as much

          • 3 votes
          #192.5 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:23 PM EST

          Perhaps in bizarro world. In the real world it's clear as day that real Americans have caught on to the net loss that is the republican party of today. The screaming chimp on it's shoulder calling itself the tea party and flinging its excrement at the majority of America will continue to be its downfall because the party is too weak to cast the little monkey into the flames of history where it belongs.

          Dark days ahead (2014 by the way, 2012 alredy happened) for the ancient and lame republicans.

            #192.6 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:41 PM EST
            Reply

            "Endgame"?

            Scary stuff. Life stops as we know it.

            What a bunch of crackers.

              Reply#193 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:14 PM EST

              GOP. Aka scrooge

              • 1 vote
              Reply#194 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:14 PM EST

              If just absolutely amazes me, the garbage the American people are being fed by the main stream media (both "liberal" and "conservative"), AND YOU ALL SWALLOW IT HOOK, LINE AND SINKER!

              • 1 vote
              Reply#195 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:15 PM EST

              Ho ho ho,it's off the cliff we go.

              It would be the best thing,because all would pay more taxes,and the bush name goes away for good,,,

              • 1 vote
              Reply#196 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:15 PM EST

              By the end of this week Boehner will cave. It is inevitable. The American people have spoken. Once this happens Grover Norquist will become a footnote in history and the Democrats will be in complete control of out economy - mercifully - and if the teabaggers stand in the way again we will steamroll them in the 2014 mid-terms. Watch and learn republicans - your time is over.

              • 2 votes
              Reply#197 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:16 PM EST

              Yes, yes and yes. Boehner and his tea party puppeteers have not become irrelevant.

                #197.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:18 PM EST

                They have spoken?! So why would not 98% agree with raising taxes on the top 2% ie someone else!!??

                  #197.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:20 PM EST

                  markinbecker........no they won't. Republicans are that frigging stubborn. They could care less.

                  Grover......can you beleive that Bull. Our whole country has been held hostage for YEARS because of a Bull@!$%# Pledge! Who the @!$%# does that Boys Scout @!$%# but somebody that either does not give a damn or has enough Cheddar to feed a Continent

                    #197.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:26 PM EST

                    Maybe the government should just confiscate everything from everybody and we can turn into China since they pretty much own us anyway since we owe them so much money and let the government own and operate every business and we can all be government employees. Sometimes I read some of these comments and think that people would like this idea. The only people that would be rich would be the people at the top of the government food chain.

                    • 1 vote
                    #197.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:44 PM EST
                    Reply

                    ProBusiness SAID:

                    "TomasGrande: What are we thankful for Obama again? And you say?"

                    Which he followed with point by point bahgetty-blah-blah as if he were campaigning for king of chumptown...

                    It's easy to see why he's in the probe business.

                      Reply#198 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:17 PM EST

                      It puzzles me to see or hear Republicans talk about politics after what thier last Bozo administration did to our country. They basically ripped us and our childrens future off and left us wondering how we can pay thier bill. They have absolutely no right to expect that anyone would even care minutely what they want in this round of negotiations. They have zero crdibility. ZERO

                      • 4 votes
                      Reply#199 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:18 PM EST

                      I believe the Dems had both houses of Congress the last 2 years of Bush's administration!! Did you forget this!?

                      • 1 vote
                      #199.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:22 PM EST

                      Oh but the GOP forgets that they voted 19 TIMES to raise the debt celing and passed along an 11 TRILLION dollar deficit... Woops, we are not supposed to remember this, we are to pretend that BUSH never happened.

                      • 2 votes
                      #199.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:24 PM EST

                      if you replace republican with democrat, your post would actually make sense

                      • 1 vote
                      #199.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:24 PM EST

                      Nope. You are incorrect. Recheck, tes

                      • 1 vote
                      #199.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:26 PM EST

                      Johnny -

                      "It puzzles me to see or hear Republicans talk about politics after what thier last Bozo administration did to our country."

                      Well at least you realize the current administration is a "Bozo administration", that's a start...

                      • 1 vote
                      #199.5 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:27 PM EST

                      Facts have a liberal bias.

                      • 2 votes
                      #199.6 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:31 PM EST

                      Tes

                      Did you forget that it was not a filibuster proof congress majority and everything the democrats managed to send to the president got vetoed?

                      • 2 votes
                      #199.7 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:36 PM EST

                      Who raised the National debt the most.

                      Kennedy raised the debt ceiling 4 times for a total increase of 5%.

                      Johnson raised the debt ceiling 7 times for a total increase of 18%.

                      Nixon raised the debt ceiling 9 times for a total increase of 36%.

                      Ford raised the debt ceiling 5 times for a total increase of 41%.

                      Carter raised the debt ceiling 9 times for total increase of 59%.

                      Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times for a total increase of 199%.

                      George H.W. Bush raised the debt ceiling 9 times for a total increase of 48%.

                      Clinton raised the debt ceiling 4 times for a total increase of 44%.

                      George W. Bush raised the debt ceiling 7 times for a total increase of 90%.

                      Obama has raised the debt ceiling 3 times for a total increase of 26%.

                      Adding the percentages of the Democratic presidents’ total debt ceiling increases (shown in blue) together reveals that President Ronald Reagan, arguably the most popular Republican president on this list, actually raised the debt ceiling by a higher percentage than all of the Democrats combined.

                      The Democrats’ total percentage increase is 152%. President Reagan increased the debt ceiling by 199% in his two terms in office.

                      The Republican presidents, shown in red, when added together, have raised the debt ceiling by a total of 414%.

                      • 3 votes
                      #199.8 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:39 PM EST
                      Reply

                      I find it a bit odd after all the promises to protect old people during the campaign, they are proposing cutting the social security calculation.

                      This Week's Economist Magazine quotes an AFL CIO study that the average retiree would lose $830/year under the new inflation calculation. (I assume that looks at the "what if" current retirees had the reduced inflation adjustment from the outset. That also means that kids will not be able to count on social security for a pension since the real value will continue to be reduced year after year.

                      It would make more sense to gradually raise the social security retirement age from the current 66 to 70 and to increase the income contribution limit for social security from 109,000 to 250,000 - also to be adjusted in the future for inflation. That would fix social security forever instead of having it go bust in 30 years if nothing is done.

                      The Republicans don't want to raise the 15 percent capital gains income tax for the rich but they don't mind bashing the elderly and mortgaging the future of the young in order to protect the rich. Income has increasingly skewed from the middle class to the rich in recent decades, threatening our economy (consumer demand) and our way of life.

                      I don't understand why social security is on the table with the tax cuts for the rich and particularly in this form of long term gutting of social security - just because it doesn't raise taxes?

                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#200 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:19 PM EST

                      It is called privatizing to make themselves even wealthier.

                        #200.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:27 PM EST
                        Reply

                        I thought they were going to tax the 401k when you retire as you draw it out. I guess this must mean theyre going to tax it now and tax it again when you retire? Plus they want to tax those of us who have health care through our employer and call the part that the employer pays income and tax that too. So much for extending taxe cuts for the middle class. I guess the have nots want every penny from every person they can get it from even if youre not rich. So I guess equal protection under the law means taking from everybody? I think some people on this thread even hate you if you have a job and are middle class. Actually Pig, it was ruled unconstitutional to force people to buy healthcare so now they're calling it a tax and if you dont buy it they'll tax you instead. That means hiring more irs agents. Isnt that swell?

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#201 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:20 PM EST

                        Yes if you have a job and are middle class we hate you. ????

                        What a genius

                          #201.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:24 PM EST

                          401 K gets taxed as you take it out - you have to start withdrawing at 70. If you want to change it into a Roth IRA (where future earnings from the account aren't taxed) you have to pay the taxes at the outset.

                          Some have proposed getting rid of special exemptions such as deductions for health insurance or for especially high cost health plans, exemptions for mortgage interest and chairtable contributions.

                          One suggestion has been a limit on total deductions - e.g. deduct no more than $50,000. Charities - some of which are really political action groups, wouldn't like that but it would hit the rich and no lower income folks.

                          Mortgage interest deduction limits might moderate some of the price increases in high value houses, but reducing speculation of the type we saw during the last housing bubble, which has finally mercifully deflated.

                            #201.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:36 PM EST

                            I never claimed to be a genius and I dont call people names either. It just seems like politicians talk about tax breaks for the middle class then find another way to tax the middle class. I think people have different definitions rich too. People where I work think we're rich because my husband and I both work and he has a decent paying job but we dont even come close to making 250gs. To be honest, I wouldnt care about going over the fiscal cliff. We wouldnt have as much money to spend but oh well, we dont carry a lot of debt anyway and we dont spend money we dont have.

                              #201.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:54 PM EST
                              Reply

                              Pigotry......same crap from you again and again and again, ad nausem. Are you mentally challanged?

                              • 2 votes
                              Reply#202 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:24 PM EST

                              Why don't you reply to her original comment instead of doing it here. are you a coward?

                              • 2 votes
                              #202.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:25 PM EST

                              Coward no, practical, yes. Most people recognize (execpt you apparantly) that nobody goes back 8 pages to read comments. They go to the latest posts.

                                #202.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:32 PM EST
                                Reply

                                Obama's doing a temporary tax rate increase on the 2%er for a phony victory for his base in exchange for savage cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Later in the fall of 2013, Obama and Congress have plans to do Tax Reform where the top income tax rates fall from 39.6% to under the current 35% rate that the top 2% now pay. Selling out His progressive voters. What a betrayal by the Judas Goat Obama. Progressives stop him from this deal.

                                • 2 votes
                                Reply#203 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:24 PM EST

                                Another clueless Rightwinger

                                • 2 votes
                                #203.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:26 PM EST

                                Johnny, They just spew nonsense hoping it will be true. Expecting a different result for the same set of actions is the definition if insanity.

                                • 1 vote
                                #203.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:29 PM EST

                                Again, facts have a liberal bias. Thats why they don't like them.

                                • 1 vote
                                #203.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:33 PM EST

                                Sell out my ass..........phony? Where have you been for the past couple of months. Did you see the same election we saw? Or where you in denial like MANY who were caught with their pants down?

                                The tax is final in many peoples books......the question is how hard Republicans want to make this.

                                They have STALLED this thing long enough. The REAL people have SPOKEN!

                                • 1 vote
                                #203.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:33 PM EST

                                Actually I heard that Obama is going to put us all in concentration camps in January. Puh-lease....with your nonsense.

                                  #203.5 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:33 PM EST

                                  Never ever believe the Wimpy promise from politicians...regardless of what the politicians say there is "no" motive in the giverment for tax reform...if there was a motive, tax reform would have gotten done during the last two years...

                                    #203.6 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:35 PM EST

                                    @ Johnny...

                                    @ Catt...

                                    I'm a left wing socialist. Ha! You don't know jack dudes. This is the plan of a phony party war where behind the scenes the austerity plan is agreed to by republican and democrat corporate controlled shysters.

                                      #203.7 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:39 PM EST

                                      The “fiscal cliff” fraud

                                      27 November 2012

                                      By Andre Damon

                                      As the US Congress reconvenes following the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the media is once again ratcheting up its propaganda offensive over the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

                                      Behind the orchestrated wrangling between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over averting the supposed catastrophe of automatic tax increases and budget cuts due to take effect January 1, the details of plans to impose unprecedented cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are being worked out behind the backs of the American people.

                                      There is bipartisan agreement between the two corporate-controlled parties to slash social programs upon which tens of millions of working people rely for health care and retirement income. The main issue under debate is how to package the cuts so as to best confuse public opinion and obscure what is really happening.

                                      In this, President Obama is taking a leading role. His primary concern is to make the slashing of social programs that keep millions out of poverty seem necessary, while providing this reactionary attack with a fig leaf of “fairness.”

                                      The bipartisan conspiracy against the American people was highlighted by the announcement from Republican House Speaker John Boehner that Republicans would be meeting with Erskine Bowles, the former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton and co-chair of the deficit commission set up by Obama in 2010. Bowles and his Republican counterpart, former senator Alan Simpson, proposed $4 trillion in deficit-reduction measures, mainly in the form of regressive changes to Medicare and Social Security and huge cuts in other social programs, together with a tax “reform” that would slash rates for corporations and the rich.

                                      For his part, Obama has “balanced” his demand for drastic social cuts with a call for the “wealthiest Americans” to “pay a little more in taxes.” The Republicans have said they are willing to accept increases in revenues, but have balked at increasing tax rates.

                                      Obama’s call for a token increase in taxes on the highest earners, whether in the form of an increase in the top tax rate or some lowering of deductions, is nothing but a smokescreen. Any slight tax increase that might initially be imposed on the rich would be more than offset by the “comprehensive tax reform” supported by both parties.

                                      Meanwhile, the Republicans and some Democrats are calling for an increase in the eligibility age for both Social Security and Medicare as well as the introduction of “means testing” for these basic programs.

                                      The latter proposal is particularly insidious. It would initially be justified as a way to save money by reducing benefits for wealthy seniors. But its real purpose would be to transform Medicare and Social Security from universal programs into anti-poverty programs, setting the stage for ever more onerous funding cuts and the eventual dismantling of the programs. Social Security and Medicare would likely go the way of welfare, a means-tested program that was eliminated under another Democratic administration—that of Bill Clinton.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #203.8 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:46 PM EST

                                      Paul I think it is a good thing to raise the tax on the rich. Most of the rich people live in New York or California. Both states are in deep financial trouble now. The rich will move to greener pastors.

                                      Every time the govt. screws with an employer with fines or higher taxes, the employer or producer just raises the price of the product they are selling.

                                        #203.9 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:48 PM EST
                                        Reply

                                        Wall Street Journal: Your stance is what is wrong with the current Republican party. Some Republicans as actually trying to negotiate and do the right thing for America and you and other conservatives lambast them for being reasonable.
                                        And remember when all you conservatives blamed Obama for everything under the sun???
                                        And thank you President Obama for lowering gas prices over 46 cents in the past two months and have the jobless rate at the lowest numbers since 2008!

                                        • 1 vote
                                        Reply#204 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:32 PM EST

                                        LOL no ROTFLMAO

                                          #204.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:35 PM EST

                                          Thank YOU BO-DUMBO for having the gas price go from $1.60 per gallon to $3.40 per gallon here in NJ since you took office in 2009.

                                            #204.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:45 PM EST

                                            Love it! "In the summer of 2008 — Bush’s last year in office — gasoline prices climbed above $4/gallon for nine straight weeks on the back of oil prices that reached nearly $150/barrel."

                                            Try again Freaky. It's called the internet. You may want to use it.

                                              #204.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:53 PM EST

                                              Freaky

                                              Do you know WHY the gas was $1.60 when the shrub left office? It's called the recession the shrub put us in.

                                                #204.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:00 PM EST
                                                Reply

                                                BREAKING NEWS – Stimulus gone to China

                                                A123 battery company that received 249 million stimulus package will sell assets of to a
                                                Chinese competitor.

                                                Another great choice by Barry'

                                                • 1 vote
                                                Reply#205 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:34 PM EST

                                                A fool and our tax dollars are soon parted...

                                                But what can one expect from an affirmative action prez...

                                                • 1 vote
                                                #205.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:40 PM EST

                                                Wait for it...wait for it...
                                                And THERE the racism comes out...Sheesh Dee.

                                                  #205.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:21 PM EST
                                                  Reply

                                                  I agree with you that the Republicans will be voted out--we will become a 1 party government with no checks and balances that a 2 party system offers. We will "already have" become a socialist dictatorship, which no doubt will please many of you. Those who oppose--there are 800 or so concentration camps already built and staffed with armed guards here in the USA. DO NOT take my word on this--look it up I gotta go-other things to do

                                                  • 1 vote
                                                  Reply#206 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:34 PM EST

                                                  Some people have REALLY lost their minds...

                                                  • 2 votes
                                                  #206.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:39 PM EST

                                                  You got a problem looking it up for yourself? it'll give you the locations--pictures--it was a massive undertaking th construct all this

                                                    #206.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:41 PM EST

                                                    The GOP had complete control of all three branches of government (2000-2006... including the Supreme Court).... What did they do with it?

                                                      #206.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:44 PM EST
                                                      Reply

                                                      The ignorance of the lefty crowd never ceases to amaze me. Most of those in upper income groups that Obama wants to raise taxes on are Democrats who live in Blue states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc. What a hoot! Those who voted for Obama get to pay the higher taxes to support those of us who live in Red states and vote for Republicans. I love it!

                                                      • 1 vote
                                                      Reply#207 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:34 PM EST

                                                      Peter unlike the Republican party, we would help our country by paying more taxes.

                                                      • 3 votes
                                                      #207.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:37 PM EST

                                                      Some are willing to have a fairer system - e.g. Warren Buffet - one of America's richest men said the 15 percent capital gains tax on the rich is ridiculous and doubling it wouldn't hurt investments. He runs a major investment company.

                                                      Wrecking our economy by skewing more and more income to the rich is not a good solution.

                                                      • 2 votes
                                                      #207.2 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:40 PM EST

                                                      We actually want to help the country, unlike Republicans.

                                                      • 1 vote
                                                      #207.3 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:40 PM EST

                                                      What a good dose of distored REALITY! Suit yourself with your own little demented salad.

                                                      The bottom line. Republicans are out of here as soon as the Bus gets fixed. They just want their way

                                                      over the American Peoples wishes. Whose GOVT is this YOURS? Republicans? I say the PEOPLES.

                                                      Thats why we LOVE Obama. He is looking out for EVERYBODY even little Red heads like you.

                                                      • 2 votes
                                                      #207.4 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:41 PM EST

                                                      Austerity, Tompom and Tao33 -

                                                      You can pay more money to the giverment without any additional laws being passed...

                                                      Just make out your checks to the US Treasury...and do it now...it's the right thing for you to do based on your comments...

                                                      • 1 vote
                                                      #207.5 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:46 PM EST

                                                      Taxes aren't charity Dee Ten. And what is your solution? For the first time in Amerian history (under Bush) we cut taxes while fighting a war. The only way out of this mess is higher taxes and less spending.Only idiot Republicans don't see this.

                                                        #207.6 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:56 PM EST

                                                        The ignorance of the lefty crowd never ceases to amaze me.

                                                        And yet you haven't been able to address any of the issues in response to your BS, like the GE CEO being a pub, you just supply sound bites.

                                                        Ignorance for many is due to lack of education, yours is premeditated.

                                                        " we would help our country by paying more taxes"

                                                        Like Romney Peter only measures success with his money. Can you expect any less from another Gordon Gekko?

                                                        The biggest BS story going this century - pubs are fiscally conservative. What a crock.

                                                          #207.7 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:54 PM EST
                                                          Reply

                                                          Lets go off the cliff. Tax hikes across the board and mandatory spending cuts. Maybe when The American people start to feel the pain of policing the world it will stop.

                                                          Spending cuts that meet the COMMON SENSE TEST.

                                                          1. Policing the world

                                                          2. Foreign aid

                                                          3. War on drugs (We imprison more of or own citizen then any other country in the world. Not to mention it has created war zones in countries to the south of us)

                                                          4. Federal Reserve. If the Federal Government collected the interest and debt for printing money from thin air we could use all that money at nauseam to pay for social programs. If you still think that the Federal Reserve is owned by the Federal Government and has a reserve then you are too stupid to have an opinion. (If I went to my garage and printed dollar bills that means you own me that dollar plus interest. You labor to pay me back that dollar now how do you pay off the interest that does not exist? Failure guaranteed. there will always be people to guaranteed lose)

                                                          5. Spending on the Military industrial complex needs to brought back to reality.

                                                          6. No more Corporate bail outs.

                                                          • 3 votes
                                                          Reply#208 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:34 PM EST

                                                          Going over the cliff would be bad because the tax increases are too severe for many taxpayers and spending cuts need to be gradual so as not to throw us into deeper economic turmoil, but I agree with everything you wrote.

                                                            #208.1 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:40 PM EST
                                                            Reply

                                                            The "end game" for Obama is to find more money from the pockets of Americans to spend on failed programs while doing absolutely nothing to balance the budget much less pay down the $16 trillion in debt we have amassed. Obama is offering nothing new and it he get's his way, we will all be "owned" by the government.

                                                            • 1 vote
                                                            Reply#209 - Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:34 PM EST
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