nation

Let's go over the "fiscal cliff". Seems like a huge amount of hype. We have had much higher tax rates and done just fine. We aren't "raising taxes" we are simply going back to the tax structures of the past when this country was doing well. .... All of us. Not just the wealthy who have been withholding their money from creating jobs to make President Obama look bad. ,....Obviously, they do not care about this country or its people. .... I've got mine who cares if you are poor or lost your home due to greed created by the financial powers in this country or do not have a job because of the fallout of the crisis. ..... Where is their patriotism and sacrifice?

Bill Clinton and his Democrat Congress raised tax rates on most Americans right after he took office in 1993. Democrats supported those tax increases then, but now say the tax increases are bad--except on the upper middle-class and higher earning $250,000 or more per year who happen to do most of the job creating in this country? Let the Bush Tax Cuts expire on everyone. You Democrat voters voted for those higher tax rates, you have no right to complain about paying them.

Wow a 15 minute phone call from our President and then back on the campaign trail. FYI, you won, get to Washington and do your job Mr. President.

So this entire fiscal cliff idea is all about whether or not to tax the wealthy. So if you do tax the wealthy and that increase only brings in $200billion/yr(just a made up number) then how do you plan to fix the additonal $1Trillion that the country spends over the amount of revenue they bring in? So you see this problem is bigger than talking points about paying fair share and taxing the rich and job creators. There needs to be serious real solutions put forth. How long can you run your home spending $75000/yr while only earning $50000/yr?

What with the results of the election being what they were, I think a case can be made that Obama, who clearly couldn't care less about the improvment of the economy & re-elected by millions who gave him a pass on a terrible unemployment problem in this country, isn't especially concerned if the economy does go over the "fiscal cliff". For four years president blame gave untold numbers of speeches where he did nothing but blame & the country seems to be fine with that. I'm guessing he calculates that no matter how bad the hit to the economy will be & no matter how little he actually works to avoid the cliff most people will continue to hold him unaccountable for anything & be content to look the other way as let's the country fall into a deeper hole by simply blaming someone else. After all, it's been a winning strategy so far.

"Wow a 15 minute phone call from our President and then back on the campaign trail. FYI, you won, get to Washington and do your job Mr. President."

Obama's biggest mistake of his first term was dropping his direct appeal to ordinary Americans and moving to the center-right in a vain and futile attempt to win over Republican support. Unfortunately, Republicans viewed any progress as a detriment to their electoral chances rather than good for the country. Therefore, this term I hope the President keeps up his "campaign" and uses the power of the people to steamroll petty and partisan obstructionism. And, it's a two-way street. American's need to go surround the White House and demand the President follows through with his promises. End the wars, stop the gusher of money corrupting our politics, and fight back against the entrenched corporate plutocracy stomping on the American dream.

Obama clearly proved one thing in his first term. He's not a leader to be followed -- he's a politician to be held accountable.

knichols, you can't compare the federal budget to a household budget. It's beyond apples and oranges so trying to assume that the federal budget should operate in same manner is just foolish. Democrats are openly in favor of spending cuts however our approach looks as providing the same services better, faster, and for less money while Republicans argue that the federal government shouldn't spend money on domestic programs period claiming that this should be managed entirely at the state level. Raising taxes on the wealthy will not solve our fiscal problems but it will help prevent cuts to vital programs that help Americans who are struggling.

So the magic bullet for this fiscal problem is to tax the wealthy among us? If that is the only solution our president has we are in a world of hurt. The additional revenue from this tax on the rich will generate enough money to pay about 10 days of interest ($4 billion a day interest payments) on our national debt. How is this to solve our fiscal woes and deficit of $1.3 trillion plus the $17 trillion national debt.

delefone - newsflash for you.......any time your taxes go up we're raising taxes! Another one, if you want the wealthy to create jobs you have to give them an incentive to part with their money which surely doesn't mean raising taxes. When everyone pays the same percentage of their income in taxes with no loopholes or deductions...........only then can you say everyone is paying their fair share. Otherwise, the rich are paying most of the tax burden.

"So this entire fiscal cliff idea is all about whether or not to tax the wealthy. So if you do tax the wealthy and that increase only brings in $200billion/yr(just a made up number) then how do you plan to fix the additonal $1Trillion that the country spends over the amount of revenue they bring in?"

Both sides agree spending needs to be cut. The disagreement is about whether revenues should also be increased. Every GOP candidate running for President (except that "RINO" Huntsman) said they would NOT accept a 10:1 deal of spending cuts to revenue increases. Democrats have pushed a balanced approach since day 1.

We have to be careful pushing too much austerity too quickly though. Non-partisan economists estimate the sequestration cuts could knock 2 percent off GDP, which would be enough to push us back into a recession. We'd hate to join Europe and Japan in a self-induced death-spiral. Austerity slows the economy, which drops tax revenues, which forces more austerity, and on.

There's no easy answers. But a balanced approach combined with economic growth is our only chance.