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Jake
12-23-2012, 04:00 PM
Do you think the US will go off the Fiscal cliff?


This mostly applies to the United States.
So there are 9 days left till the US goes off the 'Fiscal Cliff'.

The fiscal cliff is the term used for what the government will face at the end of december 2012, and the budget control act of 2011 will be placed into effect.

If no compromise or deal is reached with the gov't and lawmakers then this will happen:

◆ The Debt Ceiling. This is one of the two most critical issues we face immediately. We will bump up against the official $16.394 trillion debt ceiling by the end of this week! If the government can’t borrow, it can’t pay its bills or salaries or refinance the Treasury bills, notes and bonds as they come due. But Treasury Secretary Geithner has announced they can “borrow from other trust funds” to keep government going into mid-February. Of course, if a corporate executive did this kind of financing, he would go to jail.

◆ Unemployment Benefits. Lack of a deal will have a serious and immediate impact on the 2.1 million people currently receiving extended jobless benefits. (States pay the first six months, and the government has continued those benefits for at least 99 weeks of unemployment.) If no deal is reached, checks will stop on Dec. 29. And an additional 1 million unemployed will lose their benefit checks over the subsequent three months.

◆ Your Paycheck. If you’re working, you will immediately see less money in your paycheck in the new year, for two reasons. First, the so-called “Bush tax cuts” on which your tax rate and withholding are based, will go back to pre-2003 levels. That higher tax will start to come out of your paycheck immediately. Perhaps even more devastating to your paycheck amount, the “payroll tax holiday” (the Obama cut in Social Security taxes or FICA) will end, resulting in an additional 2 percent taken out of your gross pay. Bottom line: You will have less money to spend. The government will spend it for you.

◆ Your Tax Refund. The refund you expect may turn into a bill for more taxes. That’s because the “Alternative Minimum Tax” which makes sure that “rich” people don’t get too many deductions, will have to be calculated for your 2012 income. An estimated 28 million more taxpayers will face this new, higher tax bill.

◆ Your Doctor. Starting in January, Medicare reimbursements to physicians will be cut by 27 percent, or $11 billion, unless an agreement is reached to extend the current payment levels. Many physicians may decide not to accept new Medicare patients.

◆ State Poverty Programs. The federal government annually sends hundreds of millions of dollars to state and local governments. That spending would be cut immediately if no deal is reached — impacting programs ranging from school lunches to nursing home subsidies.

◆ Government Jobs. Without a deal, expect notices of job cuts and pay cuts — ranging from civilian to military, giving the media graphic ways to illustrate the plight of government workers and the impact on national defense.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/business/savage/16916016-452/edging-closer-to-the-fiscal-cliff.html

BraK
12-23-2012, 04:11 PM
All could be solve with less government spending. But that's the last I'll say on this. Kyle your turn. ;)

Runehack123
12-23-2012, 04:23 PM
I heard that 7 in 10 US citizens who didn't go to college are without a job? Not sure if my 'trusted source' is all that trustworthy, but there seems to definitely be a lot of competition these days when it comes to the job market.
Not only in the US, but in other countries too where it's even more extreme e.g. China.

College costs money so often students find themselves in debt after college. I heard this is a huge problem in the US for students who just can't find a decent job after getting their degree and ending up with huge amounts of debt.
It's a bit like what happened with people being given houses in the USA that they couldn't pay their mortgages for so in a way history repeating itself all over on another level. The college debt situation should be an old story by now though - just pointing it out in case you haven't heard!

Jake
12-23-2012, 06:59 PM
All could be solve with less government spending. But that's the last I'll say on this. Kyle your turn. ;)
With christmas around the corner, and rumors of the lawmakers going on 'vacation' until the end of december, I am finding it hard to believe that a plan will be brought up that all parties can agree with.

Bohener's plan A failed, so its up to Obama now for the plan B, if I remember correctly.

rj
12-24-2012, 02:12 AM
The problem is the damn political parties. They never agree on something, but republicans always cave in when it comes down to it. Then when someone likes ron paul comes a long and wants to cut spending he gets no attention because all of the senators are 'disgusted' by him, they are that corrupt.

Benny
12-24-2012, 02:18 AM
It will be interesting to see how this develops.

You never know, at the rate things are going the Chinese are going to own a lot more than just US debt...

[XoL]
12-24-2012, 02:54 AM
I am interested to see how this plays out.

The problems we face:
1) Too much debt
2) Nobody knows what to do
3) Nobody agrees with each other

So the issues we have are forever in a loop of failure, until the government gets its act together.

noidea
12-24-2012, 05:07 AM
Maybe America needs this

Fascinate
12-24-2012, 05:52 AM
You know I honestly think that 10 random average people that are college grads could do a better job with making bills and deciding where to make cuts than most of the politicians we have.

Sawyer
01-28-2013, 02:14 AM
The problem is the damn political parties. They never agree on something, but republicans always cave in when it comes down to it. Then when someone likes ron paul comes a long and wants to cut spending he gets no attention because all of the senators are 'disgusted' by him, they are that corrupt.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^