The Results Spelled Out: What’s on the Tax Deal
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 3rd, 2013
Good morning!
“Obama is a good negotiator”…”Obama doesn’t know how to negotiate”….”Obama caved”…”the republicans caved”…”Obama didn’t do what he said he would do”…”Obama did exactly what he said he would.”
I realize that sometimes it can be hard to see just how much Obama has done for this country with all of the lies and rhetoric being tossed about. One really has to move through the shit to get to the real clear picture, and sometimes clearing it out can take awhile. Be patient, the good stuff is usually there shining brightly just waiting to be seen.
By The Numbers
Jan 2, 2013 | By ThinkProgress War Room
What’s in the Tax Deal
After weeks of tense negotiations and drama (a detailed blow-by-blow can be found here), Congress finally managed to solve at least part of its latest manufactured crisis. After the country had technically already gone over the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the Senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise tax plan early Tuesday morning and the House followed suit late Tuesday night after a rebellion by rank-and-file House Republicans petered out.
Here’s some numbers to know about the deal (officially called the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012):
– 2: The number of decades since there has been a major tax increase on the wealthy.
– 39.6: The rate those earning more than $400,000 ($450,000 for a couple) will pay, the same as under President Clinton.
– 99 percent: The percentage of taxpayers who will keep Bush-era income tax rates.
– $73,633: The additional taxes to be paid by the average member of the top 1 percent.
– 77 percent: The percentage of household who will see a tax increase thanks to the expiration of the payroll tax holiday in place over the past two years. The expiration of the payroll tax cut and failure to replace it with something similar will deal a significant blow to the economy.
– $600 BILLION: The amount of new revenue raised by the deal after accounting for money saved by decreased borrowing costs. An additional approximately $130 BILLION is saved through decreased interest on the debt.
– $1.8 TRILLION: The amount of spending cuts put in place by President Obama so far, resulting in a roughly 2.5:1 ratio of programmatic spending cuts to revenue.
– 2 MILLION: The number of unemployed Americans whose extended unemployment benefits will continue.
– 20+ MILLION: The number of people who benefit from vital tax credits for students and both poor and middle class families that were extended for five years.
– 37,000: The number of jobs saved by the extension of wind energy tax credits.
– 3,730: The number of households that will be subject to the estate tax, the rate of which was increased slightly to 40 percent with a $5 million exemption. Without a deal, the rate would’ve reverted to 55 percent with a $1 million exemption. As the Atlantic’s Matt O’Brien noted, “Only 3,730 households will pay the estate tax next year if the exemption is set at $5 million, versus 47,170 if it’s set at $1 million.”
The deal also many other provisions, including help for underwater homeowners. Another element of the deal prevented a huge spike in the price of milk that would’ve occurred because House Republicans refused to pass a Farm Bill. Numerous special interest tax provisions, including for NASCAR and rum, also made it into the final package.
The deal also puts off automatic spending cuts known as a sequester for an additional two months. The president and Congress must now identify hundreds of billions of dollars in additional savings and revenues in order to cancel the remainder of these across-the-board spending cuts. While Republicans are once again likely to demand massive cuts to programs like Medicare and Social Security, the president reiterated that the next phase of deficit reduction must also be balanced.
Separately, we officially reached the nation’s borrowing limit on December 31 and extraordinary measures will only prevent the nation from defaulting on its obligations for approximately two months. Congress must do its job and raise the debt ceiling in order to make good on the cost of tax cuts, wars, and other spending Congress has already authorized. As the president noted last night, raising the debt ceiling is not up for debate and we will not repeat the debacle Republicans caused in 2011 when they nearly forced the nation into a default that would’ve triggered a global economic calamity.
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Readers: Keep the faith that Obama is doing the best job that he can considering what he is continually up against every day. If we only really knew how this country would’ve ended up we would be bowing to him daily in overwhelming gratitude. In my opinion we still should be bowing, because he is doing an incredible job for our country…and the world.
On a side note – If you need help clearing away the shit to get to the real stuff, Lawrence O’Donnell has been my pick as the one to listen to lately – his show isn’t called “The Last Word” for nothing.
Patricia: Thanks – I am looking forward to her show tonight.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 4th, 2013 at 6:53 am
Thanks for the article Michelle. I hope it clears up the misconception that Obama “caved.” Most of those people who say that have no idea what dealing with republicans is like.
The republicans bet Romney would win and they could roll back the increase that would have set in when they refused to work with Obama during the intern period between the swearing in process.
This fiscal cliff was a plot they concocted because they thought they had the election won. The polls showed that 10% more whites were going to vote for Romney than McCain. Numerically that should have given them the win. But they didn’t count on that mysterious X factor.
They thought they had insured their win by suppressing or preventing a substantial OTW vote. Oops that mysterious X factor again.
They lost, and Obama proved once again that he is far superior to his 43 previous white predecessors. He did what no Democratic president has before him in modern times has done, including Clinton. He got the republicans to vote on a tax increase. And what did he give in return.
If one understands the numbers, NOTHING. The $400,000 increase from $250,000 adjusted for inflation is about $3,000 shy of what it was under the old Clinton tax before the Bush roll backs.
The republicans have become a politically obtuse party. During the presidential campaign they were happy to be identified as a party of the rich.
During the debate about the fiscal cliff they were happy to be identified as the guys who want to cut your social security, your medicaid, your medicare….but not the rich mans taxes.
One would think there is no future in this, but as long as the majority of white america see themselves as republicans, they know there is plenty of life left.
Honestly, if Obama were white this party would be done. But until the next president is white, white america will be okay with voting away their best interest in order to preserve their white superiority complex.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:54 am
“For the first time in more than two decades Republicans had voted for higher taxes” How do you figure that? They did not vote for taxes to be higher than they would have been if the law had not been passed, nor did they vote for taxes to be higher than the rates in effect at the time they took the vote.
The tax increase that took effect on Jan 1, 2013, and which this deal mostly repealed, is one that Republicans voted for in 2001. To the extent that taxes rose at all, they rose because of Republican backed legislation of the last decade, not because of this deal.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:54 am
Rubio says: “Taxes went up today automatically, so Republicans didn’t vote to raise taxes.”
He’s right, technically speaking.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:55 am
Obama continues his objective of destroying the greatest economy on Earth.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:59 am
“GOP = selfish, want to hold onto their take and not help others”
Totally proved by the refusal of the GOP house to vote for Sandy relief despite promising their own members and Republican governors to do so.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:01 am
Did we all just fall down Zen Lill’s rabbit hole? A year ago, it was received wisdom amongst all Democrats and most of the pundits that the hated “Bush tax cuts” must be eliminated.
If anyone expressed doubt about the inherent evil of the Bush tax cuts, they might as well have been expressing doubt about global warming.
Democrats everywhere campaigned against the Bush tax cuts with more certainty and uniformity than Republicans campaigned against gay marriage.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:02 am
You must remember that China does not hold the bulk of US debt – I read somewhere recently that Japan holds slightly more that China (9 vs 8% of US bonds overseas?), and then there are all the petrostates holding oodles of US$
it depends on whether enough of them can afford a bit of a haircut in their investment portfolios, not just China.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:08 am
No mention of the pork in this bill. Pork for Hollywood, pork for ethanol, pork for green, pork for all of the connected wealthy folk, and the best pork of them all the benefits of being a white male.
What the Economist also doesn’t seem to get is that the problem isn’t with the politicians in American, the problem is the race of the people. The white people are stupid and will vote for the republican party every time no matter how ruinous the vote is. As long as they keep getting their pork and the politicians keep telling them they live in the greatest country in the world.
Why do anything to improve our schools(all they need is more god in them) or our health care( we have the greatest medical talent in the world).
This is why the republicans are winning in the US. The republicans promise white males they will remain superior to everyone else. Whom would you vote for if all you cared about was pork?
January 4th, 2013 at 7:09 am
The Economist writes:
“Mr Obama’s hardball tactics made a grand bargain hard enough;…”
Oh, please.
By defining the middle class as being anyone who earns less than $ 400,000?
What planet has the writer been on for the last four years?
The GOP has systematically blocked every attempt by the Obama administration to do anything constructive, in the belief that by being pig-headed they could destroy the Obama presidency.
They failed on November 6.
About 150 of them in the House are still in denial.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:14 am
Thank you for this article Michelle. I am so tired of those too timid to take a stand automatically assigning equal blame to both parties. All that really shows is that you are not capable of “thinking for yourself”.
While self-styled serious impartial observers love to assign equal blame to both sides for everything, facts are stubborn things.
If you have been paying attention the past 4 years it is very clear that Democrats have been far more willing to compromise and that Republicans have used manufactured dysfunction as a deliberate political strategy in the hope that the party holding the White House will be blamed.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:15 am
The truth is… Republicans ONLY scream “bipartisan” when they are not holding all the cards! As soon as the Republicans have any control over the outcome of a situation, they are completely and undeniably “partisan.”
People will continue to say what they will about Obama, but I think he is a much needed dose of reality! The rich cannot continue to take from this country (make millions/billions), and then push the debt off on the lower income households!
Will ANY bill/solution be perfect? Of course not. When has it ever? At least the rich know that the country is not as dumb as they believe after feeding such bull that their previous tax breaks would produce “jobs.”
What jobs? The few “minimum wage” jobs that people are sadly trying to support their families on?
Don’t tell them to get an education though to pull their family up out of poverty anymore though because THAT would mean the end to their dreams of returning to (what some believe) is a watered down version of slavery!
January 4th, 2013 at 7:18 am
If the republicans wanted to let payroll tax cuts on workers expire but wouldn’t let tax cuts expire on income over $250,000 they’re definitely not looking out for the middle class.
Even if the democrats pushed for the end of the payroll tax cut and the republicans were only willing to accept this middle class tax increase it shows the republicans’ tax priorities.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:19 am
“The deal raised almost as much money from the rich as Mr Obama had first sought, and he made no meaningful concessions on spending in return.”
Now that’s leadership.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:22 am
Lois#11, good thing Obamacare will get you proper psychiatric help since the ability to do math is long past being able to be instilled into you. Push the debt on lower income families?
They don’t even pay any income tax, how is the debt pushed on to them. With this latest punishment of the productive the amount of taxes paid by the rich goes even higher.
Stop looking at the Robber Barrons like Soros and Bloomberg. $400k is the sweet spot of lawyers, doctors and small business owners that make this economy work. How much longer are you going to villify and take our money.
A thank you would be nice every once in awhile. You poor bastard are like brother in-laws who never seem to be able to pitch in to help.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:23 am
It is true there is still an urgent need for further reforms to reduce the long term debt. That should probably include some combination of higher tax rates on the middle class or cuts in benefits (such as raising the retirement age).
However, let’s not forget that the biggest single driver of future deficits is due to health care. Unless we reform that further, the US will continue to waste both public and private funds on the the most-expensive health care system in the world, which only delivers mediocre returns (e.g., as measured by life expectancy or infant mortality).
January 4th, 2013 at 7:25 am
Actually, this was an excellent way to divide up the two chores of raising taxes and cutting spending. First came the raise in taxes on the wealthy, giving the president his tribute for having won the election.
Now the new congress can discuss cuts in spending, without the tax- raising monkey on their backs. This will be a vicious fight for sure, but it has to end in a compromise whereby many programs are trimmed, including defense. At least the president has a slightly friendlier congress this time, if only for two years.
The Economist has always called for a spending cut/tax raise ratio of about 3:1. So taxes have been raised by 60 billion dollars annually. The spending cuts will, I predict, come to about 200 billion, thus satisfying the wishes of The Economist. So why are you so glum?
While only a start on the reduction of the deficit, ample printing of money and a booming economy pushing up tax collections should reduce it and the total debt, in GNP terms, substantially by the time Mr. Obama leaves office.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:28 am
Having made his point on the principle of Republican refusal to up taxes, let’s hope Obama has the cojones and wiliness to defuse the debt ceiling scrap by simply re-interpreting the Constitutional folklore about not questioning the nation’s credit.
“Sue and be damned!” is the obvious answer to the inevitable challenges, coupled to a hard-boiled analysis of the highly improbable likelihood of a minority party being able to rally enough support to do anything practical about it.
He missed a chance with Erskine-Bowles, and as the old saw puts it, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:30 am
This is a shout out to Howie from a fan in Israel. Hello, how are you doing?
I used to look forward to a comment from you here before I went on duty.
Hope everything is okay.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:33 am
All-Natural Solution for Dry Eyes
Gritty, scratchy eyes that burn—that’s the norm for the four million Americans who suffer from dry eye syndrome.
But new research shows that a certain substance—high amounts of which are found in a very popular beverage—helps add moisture to dry eyes from the inside out.
Here’s what to sip on to find relief…
ONE STIMULATING SUBSTANCE
Earlier studies had shown that just 13% of caffeine users had dry eyes while 17% of people who didn’t drink beverages containing caffeine suffered from the problem. So Japanese researchers set out to examine caffeine’s impact on tear volume.
Dry eye syndrome can vary greatly in severity, so to keep measurements standard, researchers decided to study healthy adults who did not have dry eye syndrome.
To prepare for the study, subjects did not have any caffeine for six days before each of the two test sessions. At the first test session, subjects randomly took either a placebo pill or a caffeine pill with the amount of caffeine depending on body weight.
Six days later, at the second test session, subjects took the opposite. In each session, subjects didn’t know which kind of pill they were taking. Researchers measured tear volume one hour and two hours after subjects consumed the caffeine and the placebo.
Findings:
Tear volume was 30% higher, on average, after both one and two hours, when subjects had ingested the caffeine versus the placebo. Future studies hopefully will explore how long this tear volume increase will last.
HOW MUCH CAFFEINE TO CONSUME
If you suffer from dry eye syndrome, consider consuming caffeine each day while continuing to use whatever dry eye treatment you normally use (such as eyedrops), and see if it helps, said lead study author Reiko Arita, MD, PhD.
However, pregnant and nursing women, people with GERD, peptic ulcers or heart conditions and those using certain drugs and supplements, such as certain antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticoagulants and muscle relaxants, should check with their doctors before consuming caffeine, because it could lead to unwanted side effects or adverse interactions.
How much caffeine? If you want to approximate the amount taken by the people in the study, Dr. Arita said, follow these guidelines.
If you weigh…
90 pounds or less, 200 mg of caffeine per day
91 to 128 pounds, 300 mg of caffeine per day
129 to 165 pounds, 400 mg of caffeine per day
166 to 205 pounds, 500 mg of caffeine per day
206 pounds or more, 600 mg of caffeine per day
You can take caffeine in pill form (a bottle of 100 tablets, 200-mg each costs as little as $6 on Web sites such as Amazon.com).
Caffeine is also, as you know, easy to get through many beverages—just remember that amounts vary depending on the brand and/or how the drink is made.
Coffee, of course, is king with 95 mg to 200 mg per eight-ounce cup. But you can also drink black tea (14 mg to 61 mg per eight-ounce cup) or green tea (24 mg to 40 mg per eight-ounce cup), for example.
Plenty of other foods and beverages contain caffeine, such as soda, iced tea, energy drinks and chocolate, but they can be loaded with sugar and calories.
Study subjects took their designated caffeine amounts all at once—rather than spacing it out—but see what makes your peepers feel best.
Since it’s unclear exactly how long the effect might last, you may want to time your consumption around day-to-day activities that heavily involve your eyes—for instance, have it an hour or two before completing a major computer task or watching a movie.
If the caffeine causes insomnia, try consuming it before mid-afternoon. If that doesn’t help, or if it gives you the jitters or makes you overly anxious, then the benefits might not outweigh the side effects.
Keep in mind that everybody responds to caffeine differently, said Dr. Arita—one person might feel shaky after half a cup of coffee, while another might need five cups to feel alert throughout the day.
Whether you choose to consume caffeine or not, remember that dry eye syndrome can lead to serious health problems, such as impaired vision or infection. So ask your ophthalmologist how often you should make appointments to keep tabs on the condition of your eyes.
Source: Reiko Arita, MD, PhD, clinical researcher, department of ophthalmology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, Japan. Her study was published in Ophthalmology.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:10 am
Hussein Obama has once again lived up to his arab name.
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ISLAMABAD — An American drone strike in Pakistan has killed a top Taliban commander who sent money and fighters to battle the U.S. in Afghanistan but had a truce with the Pakistani military, officials said Thursday.
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Nazir was killed when two missiles slammed into a house in a village in South Waziristan while he was meeting with supporters and fellow commanders. Eight other people were killed, according to five Pakistani security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
A U.S. official confirmed the death of Nazir, along with an unspecified number of “trusted deputies.”
Nazir and those killed were “directly involved in planning and executing cross-border attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, as well as providing protection for al-Qaida fighters in South Waziristan,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to describe casualties resulting from CIA counterterrorism actions.
————————————
Arabs respect and fear the African part of Obama. They know that this heritage comes with an amenity towards cooperation and peace, but with equal resolve to dispatch those who would oppose either.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Excellent job! Thank you Mr. President, CIA and the military intelligence for keeping us safe.
Keep up the good work.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:15 am
Obama strikes again! This is the first time we have had a president directly evolved in targeting specific people to take out of the field of combat. Or at least the first time we have had a president that takes credit for the kills!
January 4th, 2013 at 8:18 am
Morris, I can’t tell if you’re happy about this news or embittered by it.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:20 am
Does the drone get 72 virgins?
January 4th, 2013 at 8:21 am
Yet another Prime example of how President Obama has thumbed his nose at the Constitution of the USA. We have laws against assassinations and Pres.Obama’s Drone Bomb Campaigns are an atrocious example of how Obama is far from a Liberal in his actions.
And goes to show that Obama’s base ultra Liberals are surely Hypocritical in how they treat this Obama Drone Bomb Program.
Obama has taken the reigns from George W.Bush and grown this drone Bomb Assassinations, by killing more foreigners in the first month than GerogeW.
Bush did in his whole 8 years in office. This is also a Clear example of Why we as USA citizens can NOT trust our Government no matter which party holds office for they both are crazed killers intent on World domination of the Politics of every foreign country that they can influence.
We broke away from Colonial England because of this same world domination and now we the USA also have a colonial campaign on going since the 1950′s when President Eisenhower got us into the Korean and Vietnam war.
We need to STOP sticking our Noses where they don’t belong, bring our troops home and start taking care of our own Citizens First and Foremost !
January 4th, 2013 at 8:22 am
Mike #24.
LOL
January 4th, 2013 at 8:23 am
Another Barack done kills another radial!
January 4th, 2013 at 8:24 am
We got some more and will get the rest. Drones save our lives and waste theirs. Who cares if they are protected by Pakistani Police, we know who we want and have the facilities to get the,
January 4th, 2013 at 8:24 am
3 radicals and there was another strike later that got 2 more.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:26 am
Horace #25, And they say all the nuts are in the teaparty.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:26 am
I sure hope they start building drone factories here in the states. We can get that unemployment number down to 3 percent.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:30 am
This is an excellent example of why the Middle East poses such a problem for the US. I can easily see why this war has gone on for so long. The multi-layered scenarios involving conspiracy, retribution, and allegiances are spread around like an international mystery novel between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S.. …
Nazir went over the line when he ordered the killings of medical staff dispensing much needed polio shots to the populace. … Slowly but surely with the help of the drones and cooperative intelligence we are forging a better alliance in the regions to put a firmer clamp on terrorists .
January 4th, 2013 at 8:31 am
Actually, I am Pakistani and I’m glad Obama got him.
January 4th, 2013 at 8:39 am
The republican party refused to support the violence against women act. Is anyone really shocked that a group of men (ones who are representing our views…or are supposed to be) have sided against women???
Would you want an act that prohibits violence against women if you are a perpetrator of said violence? You would be punishing yourself….they wouldn’t want that would they???