The Fiscal Cliff

[Moliere]

Isn't the point of the Roth that you pay your tax before putting it in to the account?

I mean, I am no expert on this stuff but if they tax it again, isn't that kind of double dipping?

It's not double dipping, it just treats a Roth IRA like a normal investment account on which contributions are paid after-tax and earnings are taxed. I have no issues with this except that 1) we all know the ceiling on the amount at which taxation would start is going to not be adequately marked to inflation and 2) this does nothing to help with the fiscal situation.

Any real reform has to take swipes at Medicare and Social Security. Those two programs are ballooning so anything else outside of working on those two programs is really a drop in the bucket....well maybe cutting defense spending would help as well.

[Uncle Ted]

I don't want to assume this is just class warfare / Romney backlash, but I haven't come up with a viable alternative yet.

No, it isn't class warfare. It is just Obama believes "at a certain point you've made enough money"....

Too bad it doesn't work both ways and there is a certain point when the government has spent enough our money.

[statman]

This cap on IRAs is smoke and mirrors. They're not going to stop until they get a one-time tax of all pre-tax retirement accounts - regular IRAs and 401Ks. There's about $5.5 trillion in such accounts right now. It would be SOOOO easy for Congress to say - "Oops! Our bad. We really should have taxed them. Just look at our deficits!" A one-time tax on $5.5 trillion at 36% is roughy $2 trillion that we can take right off the top. No changes in future spending necessary. And in doing so, they can promise that they'll all be tax-free in the future, essentially turning them in to Roth IRAs. And if, in the future they decide they can't leave them tax free, they can just change there mind and say 'oops. Our bad...'

Before any meaningful reform of SS or Medicare happens, this WILL happen. Just watch...

[PaloAltoCougar]

This cap on IRAs is smoke and mirrors. They're not going to stop until they get a one-time tax of all pre-tax retirement accounts - regular IRAs and 401Ks. There's about $5.5 trillion in such accounts right now. It would be SOOOO easy for Congress to say - "Oops! Our bad. We really should have taxed them. Just look at our deficits!" A one-time tax on $5.5 trillion at 36% is roughy $2 trillion that we can take right off the top. No changes in future spending necessary. And in doing so, they can promise that they'll all be tax-free in the future, essentially turning them in to Roth IRAs. And if, in the future they decide they can't leave them tax free, they can just change there mind and say 'oops. Our bad...'

Before any meaningful reform of SS or Medicare happens, this WILL happen. Just watch...

I doubt it very much. For starters, most of the money in those accounts is invested in stocks and bonds. If Americans had to dump hundreds of billions, let alone a trillion or two, to pay their taxes, the financial markets would collapse and that $5.5 trillion would vanish. Not even Congress is that stupid.

[Clark Addison]

I doubt it very much. For starters, most of the money in those accounts is invested in stocks and bonds. If Americans had to dump hundreds of billions, let alone a trillion or two, to pay their taxes, the financial markets would collapse and that $5.5 trillion would vanish. Not even Congress is that stupid.

It will be an in-kind donation, like you can do with tithing. Added benefit of allowing the government to take a controlling interest in many large companies. Win-win for the government; they get to steal our savings and get a leg up in nationalizing Facebook.

[myboynoah]

And with that, Dems lose, game, set, match.

The Democrats have lost on sequestration

[Uncle Ted]

And with that, Dems lose, game, set, match.

The Democrats have lost on sequestration

This is important. Congress is going on vacation and who wants to be waiting around in airports when they could be on the golf course and/or at the beach?

I wonder why they didn't add a little vacation extension like they did the last time.

[calicoug]

And with that, Dems lose, game, set, match.

The Democrats have lost on sequestration

Bad political move- good policy move (within the framework of what they have to deal with). Better policy would be to give the same flexibility to other agencies, and best policy would be to undo the sequester entirely and actually spend time intelligently making cuts where waste exists and expanding programs that work.

[Uncle Ted]

Bad political move- good policy move (within the framework of what they have to deal with). Better policy would be to give the same flexibility to other agencies, and best policy would be to undo the sequester entirely and actually spend time intelligently making cuts where waste exists and expanding programs that work.

Hmmm... Give agencies flexibility and take time to intelligently make cuts.
You mean like what the government did with the USPS?

[woot]

I recently received a late notification that my latest NSF proposal has been turned down. After talking to my graduate chair today, it seems that the late notifications went out to those who would have been funded if not for the sequester.

Thanks, Obama.

[byu71]

I recently received a late notification that my latest NSF proposal has been turned down. After talking to my graduate chair today, it seems that the late notifications went out to those who would have been funded if not for the sequester.

Thanks, Obama.

Unfortunately I guess there was a government surplus in a recent month and the economy is rolling along quite nicely. They are probably right now coming up with a good idea on how to attack the sequestor, but since the last roll out had to do with all the doom and gloom that would hit, they probably don't think their credibility is good enough right now to roll out the new attack on the "sequestor".

I feel your pain though. In this environment I can't scare enough people into buying and selling so my income is also taking a hit.

[woot]

Unfortunately I guess there was a government surplus in a recent month and the economy is rolling along quite nicely. They are probably right now coming up with a good idea on how to attack the sequestor, but since the last roll out had to do with all the doom and gloom that would hit, they probably don't think their credibility is good enough right now to roll out the new attack on the "sequestor".

I feel your pain though. In this environment I can't scare enough people into buying and selling so my income is also taking a hit.

Yeah the NSF came out even before the deadline to say that they would be funding fewer grants this year due to the sequester, and my research, while super brilliant (obvi), isn't very sexy, as they say. I'm not curing AIDS or cloning baby pandas or whatever. So I assumed the sequester was bad news for me. Sigh.

[byu71]

Yeah the NSF came out even before the deadline to say that they would be funding fewer grants this year due to the sequester, and my research, while super brilliant (obvi), isn't very sexy, as they say. I'm not curing AIDS or cloning baby pandas or whatever. So I assumed the sequester was bad news for me. Sigh.

While I am all in favor of the sequester, I want you to know I am not in favor of you not getting your grant. I am just sure some other unworthy project is getting funded while your worthy one is not.

[woot]

While I am all in favor of the sequester, I want you to know I am not in favor of you not getting your grant. I am just sure some other unworthy project is getting funded while your worthy one is not.

[il Padrino Ute]

While I am all in favor of the sequester, I want you to know I am not in favor of you not getting your grant. I am just sure some other unworthy project is getting funded while your worthy one is not.

It's called a family vacation (again and again and again) for Dear Leader.