Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff?

Article:  Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff? Let's Hope So
Author: John Cassidy
The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2012/11/obama-tax-hikes-and-fiscal-cliff.html


In the article, "Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff?", written by John Cassidy, he discusses President Obama's approach to the fiscal cliff dilemma. Going off the fiscal cliff will result in tax hikes and cuts to government spending that will be active on January 1st, 2013. Obama say's that he plans to restore the tax rates for the wealthy Americans back to the pre-2001 levels before former president Bush took office. During the 2010 fiscal cliff talks, Obama decided not to go off the cliff because the U.S economy was still in the growth recovery phase but now he says he will avoid tax relief for the wealthy at all costs. He plans to raise taxes for American earning $250,000 or more from 35% to 39.6% and extend the tax cuts for those earning less. Cassidy states how Bush's 2001 tax cuts for the wealthy American's income, dividend tax rates, and capital gains did not add to job growth as Bush said it would do. None of that happened.
President Obama has to show that he is ready to leap off the fiscal cliff in order to get the Republicans to consider negotiations prior December 31st, 2012. The G.O.P has not agreed to a tax hike in more than two decades which shows that the Republicans may sit back and watch like Obama and as a result, we will leap off the cliff. Leaping off the cliff will not only affect the wealthy, but the upper and middle class and the lower class earners.

This article caught my eye because I heard about the "fiscal cliff" but never read about it. In the months approaching the 2012 Presidential election, I either heard or seen an article title about the fiscal cliff everyday. I never put attention to it because I didn't think it would be a big issue and I thought that Obama and the Republicans would have it resolved by then. As election day approached, many investors kept the fiscal cliff in mind and put their money in safer investments which affected stock prices so I knew it was an actual issue. The day of the election Wall Street anticipated a Romney win, but when Obama was reelected, there was a massive sell off for nearly two weeks then the reality and seriousness of the fiscal cliff hit me. I hope that Obama and the Republicans can to an agreement before the year end so that the tax rates will not rise for the lower and middle class and hopefully will not harm small business corporations. Obama and the G.O.P need to work together to compromise rather than wait and see who is bluffing.


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