This is quite the surprise, not what I was expecting at all. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/01/statement-president-tax-agreement

Now I might be able to get the new tires, garage door fixed, new tractor water pump that's leaking, Timbo Apps new emergency brake pads, paint the house, finish framing the wood shed, body work done to the first gen get the 02 detailed. All things been let go for a long time.I know the gov't can't do that....

Isnt that the truth. 2k a year more for the avg family would have been a crippling hit, for sure. Im glad they "saw the light" and what that would have done to the economy. Looks like theyre at least making an effort to level the playing field a little. First time in 20 years theyve upped the ante on the wealthy. Also leaving medicare alone for the moment, which I feel is important for our seniors. Heres a little more info for anyone who may be interested. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/01/01/what-you-need-know-about-bipartisan-tax-agreement-0 Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the link that says "read the fact sheet to learn more about the bipartisan tax agreement" Its not perfect by any means and alot of it is probably temporary at best, but it sure is a better outlook at least for the moment.

Not so fast, taxes did go up, they failed to mention that although the income tax didn't go up but social security tax rate went up from 4.2 % to 6.2% starting yesterday!:banghead:

Hold it a hot damn minute Gentlemen...Article I, Section 7 (Bills) Clause I which states: "Clause I: Bills of revenue, all Bills for raising revenue shall originate in the HOUSE of REPRESENATIVES; but the Senate may propose or concur with AMendments as on other Bills." This measure passed last night began life as a House Bill, the real origination of the revenue provisions, as embodied was NOT int eh House...it came from the Senate. This is precisely the kind of distortion that has continued to weaken the Constitution. Taking a House Bill, reworking it into something not even resembling the original bill and then claiming that it meets Constitual muster is in my opinion "BS logic." Caalling this bill "legal" is acting under "color" of the law. Congress is just making up a lot of "what's legal" on the spur of the moment. Wait until some of the Constitutionalist wake up and tear this BS apart. MoparMom

Good point MM!Also the double tax on dividends and capital gains taxes goes up to 20% from 15%.Just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, without extensive spending cuts which nobody wants to touch we are still in free fall and went over the cliff decades ago and are now accelerating out of control.

Moparmom, please dont shoot the messenger! i am in no way a nobama supporter, or any political supporter, for that matter. Like I said earlier, nothing has been signed and this is all temporary at best, and yes weve known ssi was going to increase all along. I think it is appropriate we are taking care of our seniors, I can only hope these services will still be in effect when we all need them, but Im certainly not holding my breath. No doubt will they try to use this as a smoke screen to increase taxes in other areas, most likely either on a federal level or yet another homeowners tax hike. We didnt "avoid" anything last night as they would like us to believe, even if the income tax would have gone through, it would have still had to go through the house before it was passed into effect, either way, theyre still going to be hacking it out behind closed doors and in the end we will all wind up paying in some way or another. I still feel it is better, at least for the moment , than what we were looking at 48 hours ago I feel we need to trim the fat rather than continue to ask for more money, I guess we will see how its all played out!Hopefully everybodys got a mattress full of money stashed away somewhere!

Good point MM! Also the double tax on dividends and capital gains taxes goes up to 20% from 15%. Just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, without extensive spending cuts which nobody wants to touch we are still in free fall and went over the cliff decades ago and are now accelerating out of control.

X2. Ya, we haven't seen the end of the negative impact to our wallet yet. "You have to pass the bill to see what's in it." (Princess Polosi quote)