DEBARY -- The world didn't end Dec. 21, as predicted in the Mayan calendar so it remains to be seen whether the Fiscal Cliff will happen. I have my doubts that the president and Congress will come to an agreement.
The president needs to offer more than more taxes on the top two percent. That is simply not enough of a solution. From what I heard, that would run the government for eight days.
How can you offer that without offering substantial cuts in spending? What about incentives to allow economic growth for the private sector? How are we going to create the millions of jobs needed for a recovery?
We truly need a bipartisan solution with both sides willing to give a little, otherwise we could be heading toward disaster. The world will not end on Jan. 1, but we would have across-the-board spending cuts sparing Social Security and Medicaid and tax increases.
Next year you will be paying more money to IRS through your withholding. This all started with the Budget Control Act of 2011, when we had the debt ceiling crisis, and Congress and the President basically kicked the can down the road figuring the Super Committee would be able to come to a resolution prior to the deadline; but the super committee failed to come to a resolution so now we are in the pickle we are in.
With no consensus to resolve the fiscal cliff correctly, employers are in limbo regarding our paychecks. Per CNN Money article, "Fiscal Cliff Indecision Leaves Paychecks Up In The Air," mentions that in the last two years the withholding has been 4.2%, but then it's going to increase to 6.2% in 2013.
The bottom line is that higher taxes on top earners, along with a dramatically increased withholding for everyone, will fall far short of attacking the federal deficit of $16 trillion.
Out of control spending, especially on entitlement programs, must be reduced or all Americans will eventually be taxed like Sweden, at over 55 percent! We cannot allow this to happen, as that will cause America to lose the rugged individualist system that has made us the greatest nation in the history of the world.