What was the hardest part of this election cycle for you?

[PrincessFiona]

I just died inside.

Holy crap. I missed the spider bite thing.

~~shivers~~

[spotty_dog]

We already have a pretty big buffer built into our budget, so we can absorb a tax hike without a pinch.

However, I have some faith that the "fiscal cliff" will be addressed before the end of the year. It's a major economic impact that affects a lot more than our attending physician pocketbooks.

While Governor Romney had a more aggressive plan to drastically slash taxes on high-income people, President Obama's more moderate plan is still not that painful. The problem is that the President doesn't determine these policies; it's on the legislative branch. The fiscal cliff was looming over any presidency that came into power next year: Let the provisions do their thang and hit Americans in the pocketbook, or burn the candle at both ends to revise and fix them?

If President Obama gets his tax plan implemented, frankly I'll be perfectly happy. I mean, not PERFECTLY, I'm a bit nervous about things like self-employed health insurance deductions going away, but we'll see what shakes out. The real question that remains is whether the Republican House will try to block his plan and stymie forward movement to battle the cliff, until it's too late.

Call me a glass is half full kind of gal, but I'll believe the sky is falling when I see it. Until then I'll stay the course, stick with my investment plans and household budget, and see if the sun is shining on January 1 or not.

I'm a little bummed for my preschool's sole employee though. Neither candidate was interested in keeping the reduced FICA rates after this year, so even though we technically gave her a raise her paychecks are going to be lower this January than they were last January. That's going to hurt her as much as anything, although some of the tax credits that are expiring (that the president wants to extend but Romney wanted to let expire) are going to sting too, since they're a low-middle income family with a child who'll be college age next year.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/Uploa...scal-cliff.pdf
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxto...-tax-plans.cfm

[Sheherezade]

I'm ok with paying more taxes. That's just me, I know. I don't plan to speak for anyone else but in our situation, I can afford the 8 K less that we are predicted to pay

That's why I stated it the way I did. I don't think anyone is wrong or greedy for NOT wanting to pay more taxes. I wouldn't say that or think that. I'm totally fine with Chris and Suzy saying that they don't WANT to pay more taxes. That's the flip side of how I feel. I can see saying no, I won't.

I also think that there is a lot of waste and the government needs to get on that. We all need to pressure them to do that and they need to act soon. This will cost jobs (government) I know. It will add to unemployment -- but we need to transition some of our stuff to private enterprise or not-for-profits. We need to have discussions about what would work best in that capacity and what needs to stay under the control of government.

That said, I always hark back to when Reagan raised taxes (twice), George Herbert Walker Bush raised taxes and Clinton raised taxes. They cut costs, too - but raising taxes wasn't forbidden. I don't like that we've created an environment in which government is not allowed to consider that option at all. We had a surplus at the end of Clinton's term. And we decided to cut taxes to give the money back to the people instead of paying off the debt slowly and putting some "aside" for a rainy day - or a war. Now look where we are. Oy. I just think we need to go back to what was working for us financially and start digging out of this hole.

[diggitydot]

I think a lot of this again boils down to perspective and experiences.

Our family has benefitted greatly from government services through the years in various forms (responsive schools, effective and lean health departments, low-cost PUD, effective forestry management, parks and rec, etc.) and are totally cool now that we are finally in a position to pay into the kitty that supports those functions. It's not pretentious or condescending because I certainly don't judge anyone who feels otherwise. Those are just our experiences that influence our perspective.

I'll be honest, I wasn't quite so cool with paying higher taxes when we lived in areas with shitty, poorly-managed school districts and city government.

[Pollyanna]

AMEN.

This is not about raising taxes for me. This is about a debt that will only grow as our taxes increase (slowing the rate of growth in the mountain of debt is NOT cutting the debt). This is about government waste and excess that will ultimately destroy our nation. And, it's going to happen in my children's lifetimes. Arguing about taxes is a lot like arguing about what shape of bandaid is best for a person who has had their legs severely broken. It's not going to solve the actual problem. And, the real, underlying disease/injury will require more pain to recover from than most people are willing to deal with.

I hope I didn't just insult everyone here. Sorry.

I don't think anything you said is insulting, you're right on the money.

[weeniegeniewife]

I don't think anything you said is insulting, you're right on the money.

+1

[BonBon]

AMEN.

This is not about raising taxes for me. This is about a debt that will only grow as our taxes increase (slowing the rate of growth in the mountain of debt is NOT cutting the debt). This is about government waste and excess that will ultimately destroy our nation. And, it's going to happen in my children's lifetimes. Arguing about taxes is a lot like arguing about what shape of bandaid is best for a person who has had their legs severely broken. It's not going to solve the actual problem. And, the real, underlying disease/injury will require more pain to recover from than most people are willing to deal with.

I hope I didn't just insult everyone here. Sorry.

I'm definitely not insulted, and you said exactly what I was thinking but you say it better than I can. I hate that people (general people, I'm not saying iMSN people) seem to think that "cuts" to the budget are actual cuts...when in actuality it's only that now they aren't going to increase it *quite* as much as planned.