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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration
PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:49 am 
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Electromatic wrote:
They pretty much just have to suck it up and get a deal done by the end of this month period. The angry backlash no matter how this election goes multiplied the effects of sequestration would be very bad.

Some of the smartest people in America live in the DC area, I've often wondered how they feel about the disingenous hogwash that is American politics. It's one thing to kick a can down the road, it's another thing to do this. I do sort of wonder if Congress has a grasp over the gravity of this situation. It doesn't matter who is to blame here if Sequistration happens, they are all toast.


The other huge issue that is not being talked about is the combination of this and the expiration of the AMT exemptions. 26 Million people (a large percentage of whom will also be effected by sequestration) will be hit by a double digit tax increase if nothing is done.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration
PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:25 pm 
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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration
PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:26 pm 
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broken iris wrote:
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The government is about to go family style on the middle class.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:19 pm 
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Our family is about to get fucked right up the ass. If a deal doesn't get done my taxes will go up. If a deal gets done we will likely lose at least a couple of deductions we currently take so my taxes will effectively go up. Time to bend over and lube up.


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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:48 pm 
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promises to compromise>accusing the other side of not compromising>bitter, ugly fighting and bickering>11th hour 'miracle' deal reached. i'm not worried. next month is pure political theater.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:50 pm 
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Sequestration is hardly required in order for marriage to be considered a penalty!

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:44 pm 
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http://news.yahoo.com/gop-leaders-remov ... nance.html

"why cant i be in your club just because i wont compromise with anyone ever on anything? no fair!"

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:30 am 
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This is getting close and is gonna wreck the middle class in my area. So much for eating at restaurants and buying new clothes.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:36 am 
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broken iris wrote:
This is getting close and is gonna wreck the middle class in my area. So much for eating at restaurants and buying new clothes.


I understand that the definition of 'middle class' varies based on the cost of living in a given area. Is the cost of living in Northern Virginia that high?


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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:15 am 
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simple schoolboy wrote:
broken iris wrote:
This is getting close and is gonna wreck the middle class in my area. So much for eating at restaurants and buying new clothes.


I understand that the definition of 'middle class' varies based on the cost of living in a given area. Is the cost of living in Northern Virginia that high?


I work in NoVa, live in Maryland. Here is DC's western suburbs, assuming you want public transport access:

city, % cost of living vs. national average

Rockville, MD 151%
Potomac, MD 225%
Bethesda, MD 206%
Alexandria, VA 151%
Arlington, VA 176%
Vienna, VA 194%
McLean, VA 217%
Reston, VA 147%

New York City 169%

Child care (and you need this since both parents have to work) requires $10/hr of your full time income... per child... just to fund care from a chain daycare. The federal government has distorted the economy in a way the rest of the country really hasn't recognized yet.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:50 am 
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I get that, I just recently was reading about a breakdown of cost of living in different areas where folks were complaining that 250k a year would make them middle class in San Francisco. I understand that real estate in my neighboring county is expensive and the like, but I cannot accept that 250k makes one middle class. Moreover, in most instances moving to a neighboring locale means the cost of living decreases while still being commutable. Choices. How do they work!?


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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:08 pm 
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simple schoolboy wrote:
I get that, I just recently was reading about a breakdown of cost of living in different areas where folks were complaining that 250k a year would make them middle class in San Francisco. I understand that real estate in my neighboring county is expensive and the like, but I cannot accept that 250k makes one middle class. Moreover, in most instances moving to a neighboring locale means the cost of living decreases while still being commutable. Choices. How do they work!?


Well, there is a distinct difference in living standards of families where one provider earns $250k/year or the combination of both earns that much. If one parent earns $250k/year and the other stays at home with two kids, in DC they would be about $35k/year ahead of parents who earn $125k/year each. Things like tax-free spending accounts threatened by the fiscal cliff will make that separation even greater.

Of course if the plan is keep the middle class away from the upper classes by pricing them out, then the plan is going gang-busters.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:11 pm 
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For those of you who still think this only hurts defense contractors:


New York Times wrote:
The frenzied partisan horse-trading has glossed over what is arguably the central issue of any debate over long-term fiscal policy: the kind of role we expect the government to play in the nation’s future. Not only have our political leaders failed to lay out a vision of what they hope the budget will achieve, they are pulling the wool over Americans’ eyes about the kind of budget we are about to get.

The truth is that both the president and House Republicans have agreed to shrink a critical part of the government to its smallest in at least half a century. This is regardless of which trillion-dollar proposal gains the upper hand.

Consider the president’s budget, which by law must include projections of taxing and spending over the next decade. Loath to raise taxes on the middle class yet unwilling to cut deeply into the budgets for Social Security or Medicare, the president and his advisers proposed cutting the discretionary part of the budget devoted to everything except defense and other security agencies to 1.7 percent of economic output by 2022, down from 3.1 percent last year.

This is not irrelevant spending. It accounts for every government expenditure except entitlements, security and interest. It pays subsidies for higher education and housing assistance for the poor. It finances the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. It pays for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and training programs for unemployed workers. Without such spending, the government becomes little more than a heavily armed pension plan with a health insurer on the side.



The government as we know it may cease to exist.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:32 pm 
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Is it too late to recall everybody??

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:41 pm 
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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:28 am 
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Electromatic wrote:
Is it too late to recall everybody??


Don't blame the members of Congress for this. They are reflecting the voices of the constituencies that elected them. Blame them, and the voters who stay home and help these guys get elected (and the state legislatures that gerrymandered a few key states and the state constitutions that let it happen) Unless I've missed some new data on this, I suspect every person getting in the way of a deal has fairly strong support of their voting constituency.

This whole process speaks volumes about what's wrong with our political system right now, but I don't think it's the politicians. Many may in fact be terrible, but they are terrible because our process is electing terrible leaders and giving them power they can't responsibly wield. This is an institutional and structural issue.

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:16 am 
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Bet that whole southern secession thing from a few years back is looking pretty good now, eh?

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:03 pm 
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bmacsmith wrote:
Bet that whole southern secession thing from a few years back is looking pretty good now, eh?


I've never opposed it :)

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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:17 pm 
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stip wrote:
bmacsmith wrote:
Bet that whole southern secession thing from a few years back is looking pretty good now, eh?


I've never opposed it :)


Dammit, I don't want to have to move.


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 Post subject: Re: Sequestration / Fiscal Cliff
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:54 pm 
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stip wrote:
Electromatic wrote:
Is it too late to recall everybody??


Don't blame the members of Congress for this. They are reflecting the voices of the constituencies that elected them. Blame them, and the voters who stay home and help these guys get elected (and the state legislatures that gerrymandered a few key states and the state constitutions that let it happen) Unless I've missed some new data on this, I suspect every person getting in the way of a deal has fairly strong support of their voting constituency.

This whole process speaks volumes about what's wrong with our political system right now, but I don't think it's the politicians. Many may in fact be terrible, but they are terrible because our process is electing terrible leaders and giving them power they can't responsibly wield. This is an institutional and structural issue.



I'm not a big fan of the political environment of this nation right now. Indeed we have the government that we deserve.

That said, I've rarely come across a politician worthy of respect. I am loath to call them public servants.

Listening to peoples political discussions in public places and news channels is depressing and disheartening. Especially the discussion coming from political figures.

It's really not that hard, to sit in a room with people who disagree, and work out a solution, especially to something like this ridiculous sequestration.

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