I really think President Obama did well, he did not cave but

[akbacchus_BC]

tried his best to negotiate. Never ever forget my fellow DUers what he inherited. The Pugs never wanted him to get a second term, they tried their best to block him every which way but he prevailed, for that, as a Canadian, am happy.

I really wish I could tell you all how I really feel about President Obama, but then you might think I am adulating him. Best President ever!

With that, happy New Year everyone.

[bowens43]

1. all he had to do was do nothing.

instead he made the bush tax cuts permanent ...something even bush couldn't do. Now the tax cut will fix everything mentality is part of both parties

[akbacchus_BC]

2. Sorry, did I miss read the news?

Minimum wage went up but I do not agree for the politicians wage also to go up by a lot. Most countries do that shit, even here in BC. We paid 13% in taxes, the conservatives campaigned on not raising taxes and before we knew it, they scrap the 13% on consumer goods and slapped us with 12% HST on all consumer goods. Took them two days to disband the GST & PST and implement the HST. There was an online campaign to revert the HST, it is taking them two years to revert to PST & GST even though the HST took only two days to go into effect!

Sometimes I wonder if it is better to deal with a corrupt government or a government that lies all the time just to get elected!

[truebluegreen]

3. He did cave.

He locked in low tax rates, which will mean spending cuts in the future.

And we still get to deal with the sequester--in two months--along with the debt limit. With no cards to play.

[phleshdef]

4. Thats not a cave. He ran on locking those rates in for the 98%.

Ands thats what he did.

[truebluegreen]

5. As I recall the line in the sand he ran on was

$250,000. You know, the middle class.

And what about capital gains?

But let's not argue about that. What bothers me more than the actual cut-off point is the fact that he backed off it--and signaled that he will do it again. As we have seen him do these last 4 years, again and again.

I hoped, and I still hope, that he had learned. Now I'm not so sure.

[phleshdef]

6. Capital gains went up as well. But I really don't give a shit that he didn't get everything.

I recognize political realities. I have empathy for the business of governing. I look at this like an adult.

[akbacchus_BC]

7. Thank you for saying that. Taxes are going up here too!

Transit here in BC has gone up, three zones one way to work is now $5.50 instead of $5.00, I live in a 3-zone area to get to work. We now have to pay more into EI, CPP and Medicare from 2013. Apart from that, am a renter and every year now since 4 years ago, the rent has gone up by 10% each year and my pay increase was only 2% since 2011. On top of that, the Conservatives campaigned to not touch PST and GST and within a week, both were amalgamated to HST, so we ended up paying 12% for everything except edibles from the grocery store. There was a referendum and we will be reverting to PST and GST come April 2013 but with a lot of modifications, to be honest, we might end up paying 12% for everything. Meanwhile, the corporations and head honchos give themselves huge increases every new year. Makes you wonder, whom the hell to vote for. Our Unions are being whittled down as the Conservatives hate Unions but am hoping the NDP (New Democratic Party) will win come next elections.

I was at the top of my pay scale in 2012, so no increase for me then nor this year, yet everything is going up. I can understand how difficult it will be for some people in the US. Our minimum wage is equal to some states in the US and BC had the lowest of minimum wage for a long time, until last year.

To me, I think President Obama and VP Biden did their best regardless of the Republicans trying to not cooperate.

Sorry to be so long winded.

[hfojvt]

9. capital gains went up automatically

so it is not like Obama WON that.

Instead, he appears to have cut the rate for dividends, although I have read conflicting details.

I look at this like an adult who hates to see tax policies that favor the rich.

I guess that is childish. Not accepting the "adult" reality that Democrats HAVE to favor the rich. That's just the business of governing.

[truebluegreen]

10. +1

[phleshdef]

12. The rich are not favored. The vast majority of any benefits of this deal go to the middle class.

While the vast majority of any pain in the tax changes go to the wealthy. That is irrefutable.

[hfojvt]

13. show me the analysis

I am still waiting for CTJ to break it down by income group.

But it is pretty clear to me that somebody making $200,000 or $300,000 or $400,000 a year is much, much richer than somebody making $20,000 a year or $40,000 a year or $50,000 a year. And $50,000 is pretty close to the MEDIAN, meaning that 50% of households are below that.

Thus, I would claim that those in the $100,000 - $400,000 group, are NOT middle class - they are rich.

And even if they are considered UPPER middle class, they are favored over the rest of the middle class.

And speaking of pain. Thanks to the deal, dividends will now permanently taxed at 20% rather than the top rate of 39.6% which would have applied had no deal been made.

So the deal saved Mitt Romney from almost $1,000,000 a year in "pain".

But who's counting?

[hfojvt]

8. yeah, he ran on Reaganomics

and that's what he fought for - tax cuts that favor the rich.

[IWelcome TheirHatred]

11. Tax rates on everyone needed to go up to address the debt, if they were serious.

The problem with rates going up on those not in the top brackets is that it would be a drag on the economy because people would have less money to spend to drive the economy.

So the real problem is that people are not making enough money, wages are low and have been low for years.

By making the tax rates permanent you are left with nothing to deal with the debt other than cutting spending. Stupid idea in this economy.