Fiscal Cliff’ Bill Includes the Standard Pork, Wasteful Spending, and at Least $4 Tri

[longknife]

by sfcmac @ The Foxhole posts:

Bend over, the legislature is screwing us again.

Higher taxes for the ‘evil rich’.

The budget deal passed by the U.S. Senate today would raise taxes on 77.1 percent of U.S. households, mostly because of the expiration of a payroll tax cut…More than 80 percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 would pay […]

and more @http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/fiscal-cliff-bill-includes-the-standard-pork-wasteful-spending-and-at-least-4-trillion-price-tag/

 

[JKVegas]

You EXPECTED something different?

Note that spending cuts have again been pushed aside for another two months - when they will be pushed aside again.

Keep voting for this ruling elite, and you'll keep getting screwed. And it doesn't matter which side you vote for - Dem, Rep, Lib or any.

They will protect themselves. They always have.

When you personally face a shortfall, what do YOU do?

YOU cut spending first.

They NEVER do.

Why don't they ask US? Something else they never do.

 

[waltky]

Spending needs to be frozen at its current level for the next ten years...

Jack Lew urges US to avoid spending cuts
13 February 2013 - "Jack has my complete trust," President Obama said of Mr Lew, currently his chief of staff

The expected next US Treasury Secretary has urged the country's politicians not to allow automatic spending cuts to come into effect at the end of the month. Jack Lew, the White House Chief of Staff, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama. At his Senate hearing, Mr Lew said the $85bn (£55bn) in cuts imposed "self-inflicted wounds to the recovery". If confirmed, the 57-year-old Mr Lew will replace Timothy Geithner.

The automatic spending cuts were originally set to take place on 1 January, before Congress passed a last-minute deal to prevent tax rises on most Americans and delay the cuts for two months. Known as the sequester, the cuts would suck away $85bn of spending from the US economy in one year, split between defence and domestic programmes, with a total of $1.2tn reductions until 2022. Mr Lew said the sequester would "put far too many jobs and businesses at risk". The deadline for a deal on the cuts is 1 March.

'Resilient to headwinds'

In his testimony, he added: "Our top priority is to strengthen the recovery by fostering private sector job creation and economic growth at a time when we must make sure our economy remains resilient to headwinds from beyond our shores. "At the same time, we must put our nation back on a path of fiscal sustainability. Over the past two years, we have locked in $2.5tn in deficit reduction through spending cuts and revenue increases."

Speaking of the financial crisis of 2008, just as Mr Obama was elected and poised to take office, he said that the president "moved quickly to break the back of the financial crisis and reignite growth, and because he, along with Congress, responded with great speed and force, our economy is in better shape today".

Mr Lew is due to take up his post amid tense negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans. In addition to the sequester, debates are brewing over the government's borrowing limit - known as the debt ceiling - as well as government spending cuts, and other fiscal matters. The US Congress has voted to extend the nation's borrowing limit until the middle of May. Otherwise it would have reached its $16.4tn debt limit in late February or March.

BBC News - Jack Lew urges US to avoid spending cuts

See also:

Lew signals support for tax code rewrite
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jacob Lew, President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, pledged to work with Congress on a comprehensive overhaul of the tax code while urging lawmakers to avoid automatic spending cuts that could slow the economy's progress.

During a three-hour confirmation hearing Wednesday, Lew fielded a broad range of questions about how he would handle a number of challenging issues, including Europe's debt crisis, U.S.-China relations and the implementation of the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul. But the sharpest questions focused on his brief tenure at Citibank, where he was a top executive during the height of the financial crisis. Republicans pressed him about his duties and a nearly $1 million bonus he received when the bank was being bailed out by taxpayers. Overall, the hearing was mostly friendly with few tense moments. And when it concluded, Sen. Orrin Hatch, the panel's ranking Republican, said he thought Lew had "done very well."

Lew, 57, most recently served as Obama's chief of staff. He is expected to win Senate confirmation late this month and would succeed Timothy Geithner, who stepped down in January after serving as Treasury secretary during Obama's first term. Much of Lew's testimony reflected the Obama administration's message. He advocated a balanced approach to reducing the long-term budget deficit through spending cuts and additional tax revenue. He said he would be open to "sensible reforms to Medicare." And he urged lawmakers to avoid $85 billion in defense and domestic spending that are set to kick in on March 1. The cuts, Lew said, would impose "self-inflicted wounds to the recovery and put far too many jobs and businesses at risk."

When asked about tax reform, Lew was upbeat without offering any real details. He said he would look forward to working with the committee on a rewrite of the tax code and that the way to accomplish it would be to scale back deductions so that tax rates can be lowered. "But broadening the base means taking on a lot of entrenched interests," Lew said. "I think we can do it." Lew declined to say what current deductions he would recommend scaling back so that tax rates could be lowered.

More Lew signals support for tax code rewrite - Yahoo! News