F**K This, Go Over The Fiscal Cliff!

[JaneyVee]

THEN

On January 2nd 2013 introduce a bill to cut taxes for earners under $250,000/yr while raising taxes to (at least) 40% for top tax rates, plus continuation of unemployment benefits for those who need them. DARE the Republicans to vote against it, then when they do, spend the next 2 years using every outlet pinning this on the GOP and painting them as the party of the rich & of guns. They will be extinct in 2014 when the middle class sees their taxes go up. Social Security & Medicare are NOT EVEN in sequestration, why they would be in negotiations is mind-boggling. DARE them to vote against 98% of the country's citizens and watch them get only 2% of the vote in 2014. THAT'S how you play 3 dimensional chess.

Btw, I'm just responding to the rumors & will hold my judgement until the truth.

[MichiganVote]

1. Yup. Let's go for it.

[Buddaman]

2. I'm in!!!

[Skittles]

3. can't be worse than these ugly rumored proposals

[Coyotl]

4. Yes, take the capital gains tax increase, one-time opportunity for that revenue!

The legislate the cuts away as needed.

Put the damn rich Rs in a vice and squeeze the money out of them.

[Poll_Blind]

5. Going over is better than the "deals" currently being negotiated. This is ours to piss away.

We need to go over, take the automatic spending cuts, and start rebuilding before the inauguration, even.

PB

[awake]

6. Lets go for it and raise the middle class's taxes by $2000

That will show them who is in charge. Hey it may be the right thing to do H.Dean is for it so let see what happens.

[thelordofhell]

28. You do realize they can make the future bills retroactive to January 1st, 2013........

[awake]

36. Yep, because the house is in our control & we will get what we want, ops the Repugs run the House

I am all for "going over" I think that maybe the best we can get I am just not counting on the Tea Baggers fixing it next year.

[robinlynne]

7. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. Let the damn tax cuts expire!

[Comrade_McKenzie]

8. The 2.1 million people that will lose their unemployment disagree. nt

[ReRe]

17. Respectfully...

....do you know when and how unemployment compensation was tied to this whole "cliff" business? (I promise I'm not being snide...I really don't know the answer).

[Sirveri]

41. It's not, it's the unemployment extension. The basic UI is not run by the fed gov't.

Basically the federal government can disburse more funds to extend unemployment compensation benefits beyond their normal time span (typically you can pull for a year, the extension is good for 99 weeks or something like that). So some of the long term unemployed would get dumped from the roles if they fail to renew. They held it hostage during the debt ceiling negotiations, and apparently kicked the extension down this far.

That said, it could be addressed in a separate bill, but the GOP are a bunch of pricks so even though it returns way more in spin off growth than it costs they'll probably be stupid about it and scream no repeatedly.

[ReRe]

44. Extension, extension...

...that's where things got muddled in my mind. I hope everything turns out well for everyone. The rich don't need those tax cuts, and we need to close all the loopholes on 'em too.

[Cleita]

9. I second that.

I doubt if things will be worse for those of us who are at the bottom anyway.

[leftstreet]

10. DURec

nice pic

[In Truth We Trust]

11. Rec. They've robbed Soc Sec of 2.7 TRILLION dollars. Repay it. Raise the cap. Tax the top 10% at 40%

[pasto76]

12. that is a radical left opinion you espouse. My family is _just_ recovering from 2008

another recession would be brutal

[Autumn]

14. Some of us haven't even begun to recover

from 2008, now that's fucking brutal.

[starroute]

15. Saying "don't cave in to GOP extortion" is a radical left opinion???

Boy, I better go back and read some more Karl Marx. Finds out where he lays out the necessity of standing your ground against the Tea Party and the Koch brothers.

[fascisthunter]

24. next, you will be called a commie

so others ignore your posts, see? Didn't ya know, that shit from the fifties still works today!

[fascisthunter]

21. radical left.... bully for your family

some of us haven't.... "radical left" is a garbage term for being selfish. Look around you... see everyone else "recovering". Well, that's because they are radical lefties, yeah, that's it!

[TeamPooka]

13. hi ho, hi ho, over the cliff we go....and it's about time!

[Faryn Balyncd]

16. The cliff is the better option.

[Owl]

18. I'm in too! Absolutely!

[jsr]

19. Let the Bush tax cuts DIE.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Agreed

[WillyT]

22. Agreed !!! - K & R !!!

[Delmette]

23. If that means saving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security....

I'm in !!!!!

My elderly Mother and disabled son would be very grateful.

[limousineliberal]

25. $400k is not a bad deal, IMO.

[reformist2]

26. Obama should not have entertained the $400K bracket idea, nor the SS idea.

He's risking so much goodwill.

Then again, he's never been good at negotiating. Let's help him - take it back tomorrow or Thursday, Barack, and all is forgiven!

[orpupilofnature57]

27. Like the "Crisis" of 08 fear-mongering leaches know what works .

[awake]

29. Going over the cliff is more than nixing Bush Tax cuts

Do not forget

The $trillion in sequester (cutting $500 billion from defense and $500 billion in social programs)

End of the extension of unemployment benefits

No "Doc Fix" for Medicare

and I am sure a few more items

The upside might be we may not have to worry about raising the debt celling with the higher taxes and program cuts. Hey lets go for it and blame the Reps for not taking the deal.

[ellisonz]

30. Howard Dean is right.

HOWARD DEAN: I make the argument that going off the -- as you call it the curb, I call it the slope, the press calls it the cliff, is actually the best deal progressive Democrats are going to get. And here's why. One, we get the Clinton tax rates on everybody. Will it cause a problem? Yes. There will be a short recession, and it will be painful. But two, we get defense cuts. Republicans are never going to agree to that. And three, there are some human services cuts, which we're not going to like. But it's the least possible damage.

Now what do we get in exchange? A serious down payment of the deficit. The Wall Street people, who wringing their hands of this, are really full of it because what they're going to see is a big drop on Wall Street while all the hype comes and then it's going to be roaring back because finally somebody has done something serious about the deficit.

So, I think the fiscal curb, as you call it, is the best deal that progressive Democrats are going to get. And I think it's the best deal in the long run, not the short run.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/11/29/howard_dean_going_off_fiscal_cliff_the_best_deal_progressive_democrats_are_going_to_get.html

[awake]

32. I am down with that I agree with HOWARD DEAN lets do it

I hope Obama has been going through the motions so it seem like he tried then we can blame the repuks for the down side of "going over the curb. I did not have a problem with the taxes under Clinton.

[Faryn Balyncd]

33. I'm with Howard Dean.

[WillyT]

40. + 1,000,000,000... What You And Howard Said !!!

[freshwest]

31. Do ya really wanna jump? Do ya wanna?

[adirondacker]

34. 10 Tips On How To Cliff Jump Without Getting Hurt...1. Don’t go cliff diving alone.

http://www.tourismontheedge.com/best-of/10-tips-on-how-to-cliff-jump-without-getting-hurt.html


8. Learn to enjoy the time spent in the air.
Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

[RomneyLies]

35. Yep, no other choice.

the good is the cuts to the military budget are incredibly draconian.

[modem77]

37. Cliff is the best option so far.

[forestpath]

38. I much prefer going over the cliff to going under the bus.

[KCDem]

39. So, besides bitching on DU,

what do we do? I don't like it anymore than anyone else, but bitching here does nothing. Whom do I write/call/etc? I live in TX, so all of my representatives are useless.

Personally... I think if we have action plans, we need to make them as such. Perhaps I missed a link, and if so, I apologize.

[grahamhgreen]

42. Calling the Bluff is our best option.

[JDPriestly]

43. Hey! I've gone off the cliff in my own life so often that I don't know what it is to stay on the

cliff. The problem with our politicians is that too many of them are fat, lazy and super-rich. They have no idea how tough it is for most Americans.

If they did they would not be giving close to $10 billion to Pakistan while contemplating cuts to American seniors' Social Security.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=341106