NOW can we say that Obama got the better deal in the fiscal cliff deal?

[bluestateguy]

I think we can.

The debt ceiling threats withered away. Earned benefits like SS, Medicare and Medicaid were protected, and for the first time in 20 years, income taxes on the rich were raised. That is indeed a very big deal. OK, I would have preferred a threshold of $250,000, and not $450,000, but it is clear here who got the better deal.

This time anyway, the 14 dimensional chess worked.

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. YES WE CAN!!!!

[freshwest]

7. For this realization:

When I'm worried:



BEST PRESIDENT in my LIFETIME.

[sheshe2]

13. When I am worried:

All you Ladies Chill out...
I Got This!

He does. He truly does.

Thanks, freshwest.

[freshwest]

22. You do know, don't you, that he has a weekly podcast, like FDR's chats:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/podcast

I subscribed to it by selecting iTunes as the application and it automatically loads them into my podcast library. It's full of the things he needs us to keep active on.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/podcast/audio/weekly-addresses/rss.xml

You can also download those one at a time from that page in MP3 files. He can't get media coverage on mainstream stations, but there it is for us to find out. He's working very hard on our nation's needs everyday.

[sheshe2]

23. Thank You, freshwest!

Good Plan.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

18. I like the "I got this" pic.

Something about a confident man...

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. Love the quotes & the images. Thank You.

[Squinch]

2. Yep!

[mopinko]

3. we need a like button god damn it.

[freshwest]

5. +1

See, there it is...

[Pholus]

4. Alright, you got me!

It sure didn't seem that way for a LONG, depressing time though.

[JaneyVee]

6. +1 Although I would have preferred threshold at $150K but protecting safety nets far more important.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

8. 150k is, actually...

...a pretty correct level.
Most folks may not realize we're talking TAXABLE income, which is way way different from actual income.
Self employed people can, for instance, put 45 or 50k, some number like that, in a SEP-IRA, and ALL of that money is sheltered from tax. An employee making that much can, of course, put 15k in a 401k. So you'd have, at minimum, to be making 165k before you'd pay a single penny more in tax.
How many people do you know making 165k or more? Of those, how many do you think would report 150k in taxable income?

[JaneyVee]

9. I mean, if we're serious about paying down the deficit it only makes sense.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. The wealthiest had hyperlow tax rates permanently locked in

The wealthy get most of their income from capital gains. The rate on those went to 20%, far below the 30% prior to Bush.

For the rest of us... Austerity.

[woo me with science]

14. +1

[xtraxritical]

17. I think it's 15% on capital assets held for more than six months.

[Demo_Chris]

11. He won permanent tax cuts for the wealthy. If that's you, congratulations

If you are earning $300,000 per MONTH from your investments you got your taxes locked in at a cool 20% forever.

If you earn a mere $30,000 per MONTH you got a sweet permanent tax cut as well. Good times.

If you are living on $15,000 per YEAR your taxes went up. Save your food stamps, buy Atlas Shrugged, and stop being such a loser.


This, my friends, is what we are now calling a victory.

[woo me with science]

15. The chocolate ration has been increased!

[Demo_Chris]

19. Perfect isn't it.

[MrSlayer]

21. +1

The vast majority of Bush's cuts become permanent and "we" somehow won. Must be nice to have that kind of cheddar.

[Chathamization]

12. Not until we know what 3.7 trillion

in tax cuts are going to cause. If the powers that be decide that we need to raise the age of medicare or cut social programs to save a trillion dollars, I'm not going to be too happy. I'm a little more optimistic now since I think that it opens up the possibility of blue polities raising the taxes themselves and using it to fund social programs/infrastructure, though we'll have to see if anyone attempts this.

[forestpath]

16. "This time anyway" is not a victory, it's a reprieve.