The Senate voted 89-8 at 2:07 a.m. to approve a last-minute deal to avert the dreaded “fiscal cliff.” Among the “no” votes: Republican Senator Marco Rubio, widely thought to have his eye on the 2016 presidential race, Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Rand Paul (R-Ken.), and Democrats Michael Bennet (D-Col.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) , Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). (Republicans Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Mark Kirk of Illinois as well as Democrat Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey did not vote.)
A Compromises on Tax Rates
Under the new arrangement, taxes will rise on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for households from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. Exemptions and deductions Americans use to reduce their tax bill will likely face some new limits. Inheritance taxes on larger inheritances will raise from 35% to 40% for estates over $5 million inherited from individuals and a $10 million exemption on family estates. Unemployment benefits for some two million unemployed Americans will extend by one year. The plan will also prevent a 27% cut in payments/fees to doctors who treat Medicare patients and spare tens of millions of Americans who might otherwise have been hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax. Another $64 billion will go to renew tax breaks for businesses and for renewable energy purposes, like tax credits for energy-efficient appliances.The overall package will deepen the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars by extending the a majority of the "Bush era tax cuts". Obama agreed to extend them in 2010 and he did by passing a wonky two year budget. This time the middle class will still see its taxes go up. The final deal did not include an extension of the payroll tax holiday. And that is because many Democrats had opposed these measures in the past.
Efforts were made to modify the first installment of $1.2 trillion in cuts to domestic and defense programs over the next 10 years, about $20 billion worth . Democrats had sought a year-long freeze but ultimately worked with the Republicans and signed for a two-month delay and they will concentrate on a broader and longer term deficit-reduction plan.
Now it's off to the House where they will hopefully relieve America of it's anxiety! It is the right thing to do.
Now it's off to the House where they will hopefully relieve America of it's anxiety! It is the right thing to do.
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