Woo-hoo! We took the Republicans to the cleaners!

[senseandsensibility]

So says Big Ed just a few seconds ago calling in to MSNBC.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but he did say that. And I guess he did have a point about saving the Big 3.

[Purveyor]

1. Big Ed Schultz is 'all in'...what else can you hope for. /sacrasm off

[senseandsensibility]

3. He kind of glossed over Richard Trumpka's concerns.

I thought so, anyway.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

2. K&R!

Big Ed did put things into prospective for us. Going from $250,000 to $400,000 is a small move compared to the rest of the deal!

[sendero]

4. No...

... we didn't. We got a marginal improvement over the status quo. Anyone thinking this is a huge win is a moron. Oops, there are bound to be many of them here.

[hfojvt]

12. it is not a marginal improvement at all

Under the status quo the Bush tax cuts were scheduled to fucking END. Something I have been fighting for since they were first proposed.

Yet in spite of Obama's election and re-election, MOST of the Bush tax cuts are still with us. They have now survived TWO expiration dates.

Do they even have another expiration date? Can we get rid of them by electing another Democratic President and more Democrats to Congress?

It sure is gonna be hard after the media spent months and months and months talking about how horrible tax increases are.

[doc03]

5. I understand the payroll tax cut has been extended. I have a question

for anyone on SS, hopes to get SS and/or has children or grandchildren. At what point in time will we start paying into the SS trust fund again rather than borrowing the money from future generations? We are giving the Republicans the ammo to say SS has to be cut because it contributing to the deficits.

[senseandsensibility]

6. Has it been extended? I thought I heard the opposite.

Everything seems to be changing so fast.

[DevonRex]

7. No, the SS part went back up 2% to where it was before. So SS got a boost.

See Ohio Chick's OP on the details of the deal.

[doc03]

8. If that is true I am OK with it but I imagine a lot will be Po-ed over it. That

should take a good chunk out of the deficit wouldn't it?

[W_HAMILTON]

11. As well they should be.

Apparently, the payroll tax cut, one that actually does impact all lower and middle class Americans, is the one freaking tax cut that won't be adjusted and extended. Given all the caving over the other income tax amounts, you think they would have done something to balance this increase (e.g., leave the payroll tax cut permanent and increase the FICA threshold to make up the difference, or something along those lines).

[doc03]

13. That would be OK in a dictatorship but not in this

country it ain't gonna happen. So if you can't raise the threshold do you think we should keep robbing the payroll tax from future generations or start paying our own way like we were for the last 70 or so years? It was a temporary tax holiday just like the Bush tax cuts were, remember?

[W_HAMILTON]

14. Yes, and with this deal...

...as apparently even Grover Norquist pointed out, most of those Bush tax cuts will now be made permanent. The same can't be said for the payroll tax cuts.

And I don't know what you mean about in a dictatorship. All we had to do was nothing. The payroll tax goes up, but so do all the other taxes that the Democrats caved on. At least if it all went up, it could have all been used in negotiations. You want to lower the estate tax? Well, up the FICA taxable amount and keep the payroll tax cut in effect.

[doc03]

15. I am inclined to agree we should have just let them all expire and

negotiated from there. It may happen anyway it may just go down in the house.

[hfojvt]

9. what the heck are the big 3?

Is that all that is left of the former Big 10?

[doc03]

10. SS, Medicare and Medicaid