Off the Fiscal Cliff

Not to be a bearer of really bad New Years news, but has any one noticed that Congress is still unable to fix the fiscal cliff?

It is still there and it appears the Republicans have taken their ball and headed off the playing field.

Pronouncements of doom and gloom abound.

Here is the part I can't figure out. If the tax rates go up to incredible levels and the salaries used to pay the taxes actually effectively go down, where do our leaders thing the money is going to come from to fuel the economic recovery?

I have seen it myself. My prescription plan is planning to raise my per prescription costs by $19 per prescription this year. My expected pay raise is currently set to 0%. My taxes are going to rise an untold percentage both for Maryland and the Federal government. That money is going to come from somewhere, because we all know that the tax man get's his cut first.  It is going to come from the money I might spend fueling the economy.

Can someone in Washington figure out that this doesn't add up?

Hello--First grade math needs to be applied there.

What we have here are leaders who cannot seem to understand that compromise is required for the greater good of the good of the country. We have elected a representatives who think that playing the game Chicken is good for the country.

Some people are talking that federal workers may face 20-50 furlough days this year. An item from PBS describes it this way:

In the event that no deal is made and we do have the automatic cuts known as sequestration starting in January, federal employees face job loss and in some situations, certainly in the Department of Defense, but throughout the federal government, people will be furloughed, forced to take unpaid days off, anywhere from 20 to 50 days. We really don't know.

So you want government services? Try getting anything with these kinds of cuts. And this does not begin to address the drastic cuts expected to be taken by the contractor workforce.

We are living in a time of multiple single points of failure. With all of those people forced to take time off, something is surely going to break.

As the dram continues, all we can do is watch--Oh yes, I urge you to write to your elected representatives to tell them your concerns about the situation.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD