Fiscal Cliff

By: Makayla M.S.

One of the largest political and economic “bumps in the road” at the moment is the fiscal cliff. Most of his agendas and other negotiations brought on by President Obama in his second term are favored by the majority of Americans. However, the fiscal cliff proves to be the largest obstacle Obama is facing at the time. Things such as Bush’s enormous tax cuts, and other various actions have all led up to the so-called “inevitable” fiscal cliff.

But, what does this cliff mean to Americans? In order to decrease this fiscal cliff, Obama is in the midst of creating a plan to approach this disaster, which will include all of the following general changes:

1. Fewer tax increases
2. Fewer military cuts
3. More cuts to Medicare
4. More cuts to Social Security

….Sounds like a very un-democratic way of things, but according to Obama and many economists, this is the only way to overcome the upcoming recession. But, more specifically, Obama is calling for $1.6 Trillion in tax hikes, calling for raising taxes on households by over $250,000. It sounds a bit ridiculous and drastic for families to be required to pay so much more, but according to many economists, it’s the only way to prevent a new depression. For more specific details on taxes, go to http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/14/obama-enters-fiscal-cliff-talks-calling-for-16t-in-tax-hikes/ .

For all those Obama haters out there, think about this…when George Bush was in office, the largest tax cuts he made were for $250,000 per household….hmm sounds a little suspicious, huh? Wonder where Obama is getting that number...Thanks to certain “situations” which have forced Americans to where we are now. Also, for high-end taxpayers (aka rich people), the tax increase could possibly add another $50 billion to $100 billion. Tax increases on the middle class or poor are still necessary, but they would spend a lot less than the rich. This is because tax increases on the super rich have fallen drastically over the past 30 years. So don’t worry! Now, that sounds more democratic.

How is Obama handling this? Well, there are obviously other, smaller issues that need to be addressed, so he’s tackling one thing at a time. These issues include an immigration overhaul, increased funding for alternative energy resources, and fun stuff like that.

So, for now the best we can do is suck it up and pay taxes…which is easy to say from someone who doesn’t have to pay taxes quite yet. But it’s important for Americans to recognize that the only way to avoid another depression is to increase things such as taxes.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/sunday-review/the-cliff-is-a-hard-place-to-compromise.html?ref=politics&_r=0