In just 5 hours and 26 minutes, the Bush Tax Cuts are DEAD FOREVER!

[RomneyLies]

52. You make a valid point

The $250K is AGI, not Gross Income.

But there's also two things at work here. There's perception and political will.

It's a lot easier to make it sound reasonable at the $250K mark, and that is right around the place where the middle class ends in Gross Income, depending on location.

Then there's the political will to increase taxes, which is nearly non-existent on the other side of the aisle due to the fact that they've worked their base into a froth and have no room for maneuvering whatsoever.

So you'd never increase the rates where they probably should be, starting back around $100K for the 39.6% bracket and further brackets above that, due to a lack of political will from the party that controls the House.

When you add in the fact that the GOP controls the House under the Hastert Rule whereby no legislation that will not get a majority of the Republican caucus can be brought to the floor for a vote, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I doubt there will be any deal before the Speaker of the House is elected for the 113th Congress, and even after that, it's going to be tough.