The New Media Phrase: The Economic Cliff

The New Media Phrase: The Economic Cliff

A psychic is a person who possesses an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception.  I suddenly received a cold chill the other night when I listened to the economists forecasting an Armageddon on January 1, 2013.  Were they psychics?  Probably not but more like realistic people who see what is happening or not happening in our country and who see the likely scenario that they have labeled an “economic cliff.”

We seem to have developed a two party system where neither party cares for the needs of the country but more than anything wants to sink Barack Obama at any cost and see him removed from the White House.  We have basically a “do nothing Congress” that will stall, block, veto any proposed legislation for the next approximately 140 days until the election so that Barack Obama will lose the White House.  This is not right and we as citizens of this great country have to find a way to stop it.  I am not sure that Mitt Romney has all the answers and I am also not sure that Barack Obama has done everything right, but if we follow this path of insanity, this do nothing path for the next 16+ weeks, we are almost guaranteed to end up with the Greatest Depression that this country has ever seen.

According to the Budget Control Act approved in August of 2011 in a compromise to raise the debt ceiling, an automatic $1.2 trillion dollars in across the board cuts split evenly between defense and non defense spending would take effect on January 1, 2013.  If this doesn’t get your attention, the so-called Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire on January 1, 2013.   Unless Congress takes action and President Obama goes along, tax rates will go up for every taxpayer in the United States.  New Tax brackets will be replaced across the board; long term capital gains will increase; itemized deductions will change including the return of the infamous marriage penalty.

President Obama’s 2% “payroll tax Holiday” was extended for one year and will expire on January 1, 2013.  Whether you agree with this tax reduction or not, it has put money in the pockets of many struggling Americans.  Added to the list will be the Federal extended unemployment benefits that are in effect for the year 2012 with different levels of benefits available based on the unemployment status of the individual and the state from which he or she is collecting benefits.  These unemployment benefits will expire on January 1, 2013.

At the rate of $3.93 billion dollars a day, our current National Debt stood as of June 8, 2012 at $15,739,094,806,303 trillion dollars.  At some point around January 1, 2013, Congress will have to re-address the debt ceiling all over again as they did in August of 2011.  Not only has the National Debt been rising at an astronomical rate, the interest alone on this outstanding debt is now close to $500 billion dollars.

Again, if we continue to do nothing until the election in November, it is doubtful that our Congress will have sufficient time to address these issues before we reach the “economic cliff” on January 1, 2013.  Add to this the possibility of a new President that would not take office until January of 2013 and newly elected members of Congress that would also most probably arrive in Washington D.C. in January, and the possibility of a bankrupt United States Government is a frightening reality.  We can’t let this happen!

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Written by
Donald Wittmer