It may not be too long before we see the bumper stickers proclaiming, “Don’t blame me. I voted for Romney.”

Probably already out there.

I think Obama said the Income Tax would not go up on families making less than $250,000. That $30 is probably difference in the reduced SS he was paying last year and rate he should have been paying.

“Don’t blame me. I voted for Romney.”
Marie

The Republicans will be blamed for this, of course…

DId Romney advocate extending the payroll tax cut?
Did Boehner?
Did McConnell?

I actually don’t recall any prominent politician in either party even suggesting that it should be continued, at any time in the past few months at least?

You can get you
bumper stickers here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anti-Obama-America-Dont-Blame-Me-I-Voted-Romney-Political-Bumper-Sticker-DC808-/390495122892?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5aeb52b5cc

It’s probably the expiration of the payroll tax reduction. I actually saw this discussed in several venues before the vote, but people often miss what they don’t want to see.

MargaretC, you are correct. The payroll tax holiday expired.

Yes, it’s the payroll tax. What this proves is that these people don’t pay attention. Just wait until more Obamacare costs hit. They’ll be shocked; I won’t.

Yes it is the expiration of the payroll tax holiday. Neither party made any serious push or proposal to preserve it. There was a bipartisan conspiracy of silence around it. Or more accurately a conspiracy of noise as a distraction – much noise about the reversion of the top marginal rate to Clinton era levels, with Dems crowing about their big victory and Rs wailing and gnashing their teeth – while everybody agreed to not say a word about the much bigger tax jump in taxes on all working people.

Got to love our political class.

“They” will tell you the payroll tax “increase” wasn’t a “hike”, it was just a “return” to where it was before. But as people are seeing, their payroll tax did go…..UP.

Besides, it’s Bush’s fault. If he hadn’t reduced the payroll tax in the first place, we wouldn’t be talking about this….geeesh.

These aren’t libs, a lib would keep their mouth shut don’t wanna embarrass Obama.

Over Christmas week, which I spent in a major eastern city, had a Bomabot friend say “I don’t know why Bush lowered the taxes.” He is a retired public high school HISTORY teacher. He is a loyal member of 3 different Episcopal churches. Oh, all 3 are in the same diocese.

I can hardly wait until next summer when they start texting on their Obama phones about the cost of healthcare even with their “free” “affordable care” insurance.

I don’t think Bush signed the payroll tax 2% holiday. I think that was Obama. It’s only been a couple of years, hasn’t it?

Katherine – correct, it was in force for 2011 and 2012. Obama advocated the cut and signed it into law in December 2010.

Yep, that was the expiration of the Social Security (FICA) tax “holiday” for 2011 and 2012, which was Obama’s doing and not Bush’s. Funny thing is, that in Illinois the 2 percent payroll tax cut coincided with a 2 percentage point hike in the IL income tax so the two events canceled each other out.

Clarification/correction regarding my comment above: “If he [Bush] hadn’t reduced the payroll tax in the first place,” should have been stated as “enacted the huge package of tax cuts enacted in the first place.”

Yes, the “payroll tax holiday” was part of Obama’s stimulus package which was essentially piggy backed on Bush’s more extensive tax cuts. But it was all of these cuts ending that formed the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

Bottom line: It was still George Bush’s fault

There are many opinions of how and what the ‘fiscal cliff’ bill is and will work.

Several (including Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin) have said it will raise taxes on everyone *but* the very rich.

“And as it turns out, workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000! ” http://wyblog.us/blog/economy/memo-from-hr-yes-taxes-went-up.

And spending has not been cut one penny ANYWHERE.

Sadly, we allow these people to vote.

You (and Limbaugh) are correct, Whitestone. And the Democrats have now voted to make the Bush tax rates permanent for everyone but the +$400k/$450k brackets. The truth is that the upper brackets paid a larger percentage of the total income taxes under the Bush rates than they did the Clinton rates. Dems have never wanted to admit that, though, because it wrecks their narrative. Truth hurts.

Actually if the Republicans initiated the payroll tax “holiday,” the press would accuse them of hastening the demise of Social Security by robbing it of much needed funds.

And yes, the actual paying of income tax became more “progressive” under the Bush rates than the Clinton rates. Due to the progressive tax scheme, the Dems can always cite “tax cuts for the rich” because the dollar amounts the so-called rich pay in so exceed the lower tax brackets, any tax cuts naturally go to them in greater dollar amounts as a matter of mathematical certainty.

All this proves is that LibProgs are master manipulators of the electorate.

Here is the best summary I’ve seen of the actual impact of the deal:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/these-2-tax-charts-tell-you-exactly-who-won-the-fiscal-cliff-deal/266744/

It’s extremely important to keep clear the difference between:
* how things compare to 2012 and
* how things ccompare to how they would have been in 2013 if no deal had been made at all.

Relative to 2012, everyone loses, but the richest lost the most.
Relative to a no-deal-2013, everyone wins, but the moderately wealthy – those making about $100K-$500K – win the most.

Most of the political record from both sides has been obscuring this rather than clarifying it.

Just wait until more Obamacare costs hit. They’ll be shocked; I won’t.

Earlier this week I chatted with a small business ownner. In addition to the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, he told me he’ll be withholding an additional 1% from his employees’ paychecks in the new year to cover Obamacare-related costs.

Congress has been using the Tax Code to encourage/discourage certain behaviors for years. All of this is (as a friend on Face Book pointed out) a form of Kabuki Theatre. It is a choreographed dance of the political class looking out for their own while shafting the working class.

The Elitists have seemingly taken over the country. Their only qulifications for doing so were that they went to the “Right Schools” and know the “Right People.” This has not been a healthy thing because of their inbred mind set. They do not know how to think outside the box. Power is the only thing they crave.

This is a dark time for the US of A.

Mark, as usual you speak out of both sides of your mouth in these matters.

“DId Romney advocate extending the payroll tax cut? …”

i) So you admit Obama was lying. Why didn’t he advocate extending these cuts when he was saying that he was only in favor of raising taxes on the rich?

ii) Why would Romney raise something that would be a non-issue if he won?

iii) When Republicans were negotiating with their backs against the wall, why would they bring up a point that they knew would be rejected?

Apropos of iii, Obama had 2 advantages when negotiating:
1) The MSM is not going to blame him for anything, no matter what he does.
2) He doesn’t give a sh*t.

I find it ridiculous that you think the only point of comparison is “how things ccompare[sic] to how they would have been in 2013 if no deal had been made at all.”

The point is how everything would compare to a 2013 in which Obama had not won! Of course everything is preferable to a scenario in which, say, Obama and the House were controlled by Dems. Duh.

Given your frequent boasting on this site as to how wealthy you are, I can only wonder, are you on the receiving end of significant pork from the Dem constituency in which you live?

I can’t understand your persistent dishonesty otherwise.

Can you address even a single one of these points?

why is it $400/$450? why does a married couple only gain $50k in the deal? why would two homos want to get “married” and give up a $350k tax advantage?

Seriously Mark, what is your rejoinder?

Do you expect people to believe that the Republicans would have behaved just as badly as Obama has, had there been a Republican victory in November?

When have the Dems ever done anything like take Norquist’s no tax pledge?

Really, who do you think you are fooling?

The Obamunists are just getting warmed up. Now they want to “reform” the tax code to get another trillion out of us:

“Dems look for up to $1T in new revenues”

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/275815-democrats-looking-for-up-to-1t-in-new-tax-revenues-this-year