The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    The Decider's picture

    Barack Obama as Neville Chamberlain

    By The Decider on Mon, 12/31/2012 - 11:04pm |

    We have been telling you all along that history is working in reverse. Chamberlain was the appeaser, Churchill the decider. I was the decider and Obama is the great appeaser. When did we know that Obama could be rolled? The moment that he said in public that he would not extend my tax cuts to people making over a quarter of a million. He not only caved on that one, but he has agreed to permanently extend my "no death tax" to 5 million dollars.

    Best of all!  The stuff he gets (extensions on unemployment, doc fix, etc.) are only temporary and automatically expire while the tax cuts are permanent!

    Better best of all!! The spending cuts trigger in just two months and he still gets no slack on increasing the debt limit!  We not only rolled him, but we know for sure that he can be rolled again. It's like we're still in power!

    Christmas came late, but Santa was sure good!

    God bless America!

    --W

    Comments

    OK, I was a little wrong on the death tax thingy. We can fix that in 2 months now that we have the leverage.


    by The Decider on Mon, 12/31/2012 - 11:29pm

    Happy New Year. I hope a better year for all of us. Good by 112th Congress. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.

    by trkingmomoe on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 12:14am

    The incoming congress will be significantly better than the outgoing?

    Uhhhh.....


    by demunchained on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 8:38am

    Whether you respect him or not, spell the guy's name right.


    by acanuck on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 2:57am

    Done


    by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 2:51pm

    I think not using a Chained CPI on Social Security was a victory, though I can't imagine why Obama brought it up in the first place.  Hopefully it was as an offer meant to be cut, like a nasty scene that a movie-maker shows the MPAA and then cuts to go from NC-17 to R.

    Not settling the debt ceiling now was a huge mistake.  But, I'm not sure how you make a crazed opposition settle that.  They went into default mode once already.

    As for unemployment benefits and the like being temporary while tax rates for those under $400,000 are now permanent... What we want is an improving economy where unemployment benefits become less of an issue.  This might help us towards that.  As for the difference between $250,000 and $400,000 in terms of marginal tax rates... yes, some mini-tycoons found a teeny tiny break.  But, whatever.  It's the real big tycoons that we need to tax.


    by Michael Maiello on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 3:38am

    Seems like that chunk between $250K and $450K is huge - perhaps 1/7th of tax in the tax bracket with most revenue - perhaps the segment generating 25% of total?

    http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs-soi/08in03tr.xls

    Table 4a.  Returns with Modified Taxable Income [1]: Adjusted Gross
    Income and Tax Items, by Type of Tax Computation, by Size of
    Adjusted Gross Income, Tax Year 2008
    (All figures are estimates based on samples—money amounts are in thousands of dollars,
    except where otherwise indicated)
    Type of tax computation by
    size of adjusted gross income    		 Number of
    returns    		 Adjusted
    gross income
    less deficit    		 Modified
    taxable income    		 Income tax before credits,
    regular tax computation    		 Tax
    generated    		 Tax differences
    due to
    alternative
    computations    		 Taxes from
    special computation    		 Alternative minimum tax Income tax before credits Total tax credits Income tax after credits Total income tax
    Number
    of
    returns    		 Amount Number
    of
    returns    		 Amount Number
    of
    returns    		 Amount Number
    of
    returns    		 Amount As a percentage of Average
    income tax
    (dollars)
    Number of
    returns    		 Amount Number of
    returns    		 Amount Number of
    returns    		 Amount Number of
    returns    		 Amount Modified
    taxable income    		 Adjusted
    gross income
      (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23)
    Returns with regular tax computation only                                              
    Total 85,418,967 4,561,162,471 2,889,223,853 85,418,967 473,562,743 85,418,967 473,097,069 0 * 6,826 * 5,770 1,308,693 4,380,327 85,418,967 477,483,165 43,657,703 49,378,990 69,829,212 428,104,175 69,829,212 428,104,175 14.8 9.4 5,012
        Under $5,000 236,500 551,120 194,055 236,500 19,478 236,500 19,404 0 0 0 * 8 * 60 236,500 19,464 3,265 466 233,236 18,998 233,236 18,998 9.8 3.4 80
        $5,000 under $10,000 2,917,315 23,287,890 4,588,356 2,917,315 459,345 2,917,315 459,345 0 0 0 * 652 * 197 2,917,315 459,542 574,586 30,444 2,349,939 429,098 2,349,939 429,098 9.4 1.8 147
        $10,000 under $15,000 5,614,096 70,416,159 21,174,012 5,614,096 2,125,814 5,614,096 2,126,237 0 * 1,003 * 4,625 * 1,981 * 490 5,614,096 2,131,352 3,101,535 720,574 3,895,977 1,410,778 3,895,977 1,410,778 6.7 2.0 251
        $15,000 under $20,000 7,027,612 123,573,515 45,904,838 7,027,612 4,817,528 7,027,612 4,817,338 0 0 0 * 2,901 * 1,938 7,027,612 4,819,276 4,537,422 1,579,005 4,853,375 3,240,271 4,853,375 3,240,271 7.1 2.6 461
        $20,000 under $25,000 7,680,823 172,896,336 71,850,761 7,680,823 8,264,263 7,680,823 8,264,104 0 * 1,003 * 100 * 2,274 * 1,744 7,680,823 8,265,949 4,735,526 2,360,180 4,932,585 5,905,769 4,932,585 5,905,769 8.2 3.4 769
        $25,000 under $30,000 7,365,426 202,131,395 95,688,414 7,365,426 11,471,896 7,365,426 11,471,248 0 * 1,003 * 110 0 0 7,365,426 11,471,359 4,251,393 3,128,157 4,743,816 8,343,202 4,743,816 8,343,202 8.7 4.1 1,133
        $30,000 under $40,000 12,487,221 434,083,827 234,733,478 12,487,221 29,314,151 12,487,221 29,313,381 0 0 0 * 70 * 158 12,487,221 29,313,540 6,514,816 6,493,949 9,444,800 22,819,591 9,444,800 22,819,591 9.7 5.3 1,827
        $40,000 under $50,000 9,272,315 415,343,053 246,998,655 9,272,315 32,846,119 9,272,315 32,839,834 0 0 0 * 2,334 * 4,177 9,272,315 32,844,011 4,546,402 6,018,002 7,874,381 26,826,009 7,874,381 26,826,009 10.9 6.5 2,893
        $50,000 under $75,000 15,123,300 926,523,084 588,516,125 15,123,300 85,391,463 15,123,300 85,378,315 0 0 0 62,929 55,171 15,123,300 85,433,486 7,192,443 12,865,719 13,985,773 72,567,767 13,985,773 72,567,767 12.3 7.8 4,798
        $75,000 under $100,000 8,456,976 729,852,412 493,867,464 8,456,976 74,832,354 8,456,976 74,797,592 0 0 0 82,967 119,273 8,456,976 74,916,865 4,425,169 8,937,796 8,303,649 65,979,069 8,303,649 65,979,069 13.4 9.0 7,802
        $100,000 under $200,000 8,014,139 1,038,899,386 745,193,649 8,014,139 133,834,905 8,014,139 133,729,675 0 * 3,026 * 756 413,299 828,040 8,014,139 134,558,471 3,548,268 5,816,842 7,990,433 128,741,629 7,990,433 128,741,629 17.3 12.4 16,064
        $200,000 under $500,000 1,098,597 297,839,001 233,125,118 1,098,597 55,788,059 1,098,597 55,650,548 0 * 790 * 178 696,215 2,933,165 1,098,597 58,583,892 192,015 677,674 1,096,829 57,906,217 1,096,829 57,906,217 24.8 19.4 52,709
        $500,000 under $1,000,000 95,060 62,836,753 52,977,642 95,060 16,071,249 95,060 15,970,974 0 0 0 40,850 352,869 95,060 16,323,843 26,158 248,010 94,901 16,075,833 94,901 16,075,833 30.3 25.6 169,112
        $1,000,000 under $1,500,000 15,957 19,213,324 16,707,608 15,957 5,433,800 15,957 5,420,468 0 0 0 1,489 34,466 15,957 5,454,934 4,628 97,423 15,929 5,357,511 15,929 5,357,511 32.1 27.9 335,747
        $1,500,000 under $2,000,000 5,509 9,433,468 7,964,102 5,509 2,649,607 5,509 2,641,825 0 0 0 334 13,766 5,509 2,655,591 1,597 63,958 5,485 2,591,633 5,485 2,591,633 32.5 27.5 470,436
        $2,000,000 under $5,000,000 6,674 19,060,292 16,444,100 6,674 5,608,387 6,674 5,580,683 0 0 0 343 20,115 6,674 5,600,797 1,964 101,958 6,658 5,498,839 6,658 5,498,839 33.4 28.8 823,920
        $5,000,000 under $10,000,000 1,047 7,079,380 6,136,779 1,047 2,135,509 1,047 2,120,804 0 0 0 31 3,822 1,047 2,124,625 346 52,267 1,047 2,072,358 1,047 2,072,358 33.8 29.3 1,979,330
        $10,000,000 or more 400 8,142,077 7,158,697 400 2,498,816 400 2,495,293 0 0 0 13 10,876 400 2,506,168 168 186,565 398 2,319,603 398 2,319,603 32.4 28.5 5,799,008
    Returns with Form 8615 tax computation [2]                                              
    Total 384,095 5,133,946 4,365,648 384,095 823,259 384,095 797,121 -26,138 0 0 4,897 14,591 384,095 811,712 114,380 21,192 374,323 790,520 374,323 790,520 18.1 15.4 2,058
        Under $5,000 181,088 608,301 436,525 181,088 41,116 181,088 52,159 11,043 0 0 0 0 181,088 52,159 40,613 1,511 172,622 50,648 172,622 50,648 11.6 8.3 280
        $5,000 under $10,000 103,407 724,249 497,766 103,407 46,539 103,407 65,388 18,849 0 0 0 0 103,407 65,388 31,888 1,683 102,109 63,706 102,109 63,706 12.8 8.8 616
        $10,000 under $15,000 45,353 544,208 410,221 45,353 43,279 45,353 65,234 21,955 0 0 * 652 * 16 45,353 65,251 14,700 1,066 45,353 64,185 45,353 64,185 15.6 11.8 1,415
        $15,000 under $20,000 21,226 361,430 318,491 21,226 36,192 21,226 50,728 14,536 0 0 * 1,271 * 661 21,226 51,389 7,521 616 21,226 50,773 21,226 50,773 15.9 14.0 2,392
        $20,000 under $25,000 7,965 174,411 152,786 7,965 19,721 7,965 26,603 6,882 0 0 0 0 7,965 26,603 * 4,337 * 284 7,965 26,319 7,965 26,319 17.2 15.1 3,304
        $25,000 under $30,000 5,678 160,566 135,640 5,678 18,195 5,678 29,690 11,495 0 0 * 1,315 * 2,908 5,678 32,598 * 4,014 * 659 5,678 31,939 5,678 31,939 23.5 19.9 5,625
        $30,000 under $40,000 5,522 188,180 156,967 5,522 21,844 5,522 36,744 14,900 0 0 0 0 5,522 36,744 * 2,256 * 1,536 5,522 35,207 5,522 35,207 22.4 18.7 6,376
        $40,000 under $50,000 * 3,763 * 168,967 * 147,052 * 3,763 * 23,534 * 3,763 * 26,966 * 3,433 0 0 * 652 * 29 * 3,763 * 26,995 * 2,492 * 900 * 3,763 * 26,095 * 3,763 * 26,095 * 17.7 * 15.4 * 6,935
        $50,000 under $75,000 * 4,543 * 271,664 * 279,601 * 4,543 * 46,467 * 4,543 * 52,195 * 5,729 0 0 * 435 * 3,632 * 4,543 * 55,827 * 2,613 * 289 * 4,543 * 55,539 * 4,543 * 55,539 * 19.9 * 20.4 * 12,225
        $75,000 under $100,000 * 1,275 * 100,183 * 92,778 * 1,275 * 18,536 * 1,275 * 23,252 * 4,716 0 0 * 32 * 453 * 1,275 * 23,705 * 624 * 56 * 1,275 * 23,649 * 1,275 * 23,649 * 25.5 * 23.6 * 18,548
        $100,000 under $200,000 * 2,529 * 351,460 * 291,135 * 2,529 * 60,303 * 2,529 * 64,362 * 4,059 0 0 * 315 * 3,948 * 2,529 * 68,310 * 1,912 * 251 * 2,529 * 68,059 * 2,529 * 68,059 * 23.4 * 19.4 * 26,911
        $200,000 under $500,000 749 250,391 256,559 749 66,100 749 38,278 -27,822 0 0 * 136 * 531 749 38,809 709 1,087 * 742 * 37,722 * 742 * 37,722 14.7 15.1 50,363
        $500,000 under $1,000,000 564 405,964 423,891 564 122,520 564 93,942 -28,578 0 0 * 8 * 40 564 93,982 367 2,639 564 91,343 564 91,343 21.5 22.5 161,956
        $1,000,000 under $1,500,000 254 291,311 267,407 254 88,176 254 57,262 -30,914 0 0 * 74 * 1,957 254 59,219 205 1,809 253 57,410 253 57,410 21.5 19.7 226,024
        $1,500,000 under $2,000,000 107 181,303 165,458 107 55,623 107 41,049 -14,574 0 0 0 0 107 41,049 * 75 * 3,419 107 37,630 107 37,630 22.7 20.8 351,682
        $2,000,000 under $5,000,000 51 162,894 155,461 51 53,323 51 36,128 -17,195 0 0 * 3 * 79 51 36,207 * 38 * 377 51 35,830 51 35,830 23.0 22.0 702,549
        $5,000,000 under $10,000,000 19 134,792 128,822 19 44,676 19 25,083 -19,593 0 0 ** 4 ** 336 19 25,356 13 484 19 24,872 19 24,872 19.3 18.5 1,309,053
        $10,000,000 or more * 3 * 53,671 * 49,088 * 3 * 17,116 * 3 * 12,058 * -5,059 0 0 ** ** * 3 * 12,120 * 3 * 2,526 * 3 * 9,594 * 3 * 9,594 * 19.5 * 17.9 * 3,198,000
    Returns with Schedule D tax computation                                              
    Total 20,936,388 3,291,004,790 2,190,413,003 20,936,388 645,240,720 20,936,388 576,898,737 -68,341,983 * 1,799 * 3,766 2,495,351 17,745,760 20,936,388 594,648,263 11,158,504 18,234,713 20,068,594 576,413,550 20,068,595 576,413,756 26.3 17.5 27,532
        Under $5,000 97,268 278,525 63,242 97,268 9,920 97,268 6,362 -3,558 0 0 0 0 97,268 6,362 16,129 337 92,920 6,025 92,920 6,025 9.5 2.2 62
        $5,000 under $10,000 157,981 1,173,429 255,412 157,981 33,479 157,981 25,981 -7,499 0 0 0 0 157,981 25,981 29,459 744 152,046 25,237 152,046 25,237 9.9 2.2 160
        $10,000 under $15,000 356,068 4,523,750 991,402 356,068 126,375 356,068 100,277 -26,099 0 0 * 652 * 521 356,068 100,798 149,749 23,266 284,683 77,531 284,683 77,531 7.8 1.7 218
        $15,000 under $20,000 473,796 8,308,943 2,818,465 473,796 348,059 473,796 289,956 -58,103 0 0 0 0 473,796 289,956 255,517 76,239 406,872 213,716 406,872 213,716 7.6 2.6 451
        $20,000 under $25,000 558,401 12,616,505 4,291,706 558,401 582,390 558,401 481,972 -100,418 0 0 0 0 558,401 481,972 264,374 87,972 482,634 394,000 482,634 394,000 9.2 3.1 706
        $25,000 under $30,000 654,183 18,040,240 7,106,562 654,183 981,009 654,183 838,867 -142,142 0 0 * 1,977 * 2,388 654,183 841,255 306,738 117,913 571,926 723,343 571,926 723,343 10.2 4.0 1,106
        $30,000 under $40,000 1,450,106 50,953,001 24,264,597 1,450,106 3,373,755 1,450,106 2,989,328 -384,427 0 0 * 1,302 * 2,251 1,450,106 2,991,578 690,737 353,420 1,290,383 2,638,158 1,290,383 2,638,158 10.9 5.2 1,819
        $40,000 under $50,000 1,542,995 69,471,581 37,752,615 1,542,995 5,478,539 1,542,995 4,981,523 -497,015 0 0 * 1,247 * 5,043 1,542,995 4,986,566 764,177 515,470 1,415,331 4,471,096 1,415,331 4,471,096 11.8 6.4 2,898
        $50,000 under $75,000 3,827,165 238,776,606 143,789,385 3,827,165 23,533,636 3,827,165 21,753,685 -1,779,951 * 1,621 * 2,835 4,213 6,286 3,827,165 21,762,806 1,937,815 1,881,768 3,641,548 19,881,038 3,641,548 19,881,038 13.8 8.3 5,195
        $75,000 under $100,000 3,151,460 273,457,579 176,125,593 3,151,460 29,729,011 3,151,460 27,752,147 -1,976,865 * 141 * 801 21,353 39,294 3,151,460 27,792,242 1,799,855 2,145,244 3,095,815 25,646,998 3,095,815 25,646,998 14.6 9.4 8,138
        $100,000 under $200,000 5,672,903 783,623,260 542,858,507 5,672,903 109,532,567 5,672,903 104,793,647 -4,738,920 * 31 * 127 426,171 1,024,947 5,672,903 105,818,721 3,260,948 3,576,293 5,644,225 102,242,428 5,644,225 102,242,428 18.8 13.0 18,023
        $200,000 under $500,000 2,280,189 665,613,273 484,901,296 2,280,189 132,491,571 2,280,189 124,679,561 -7,812,010 * 6 * 3 1,711,196 10,198,618 2,280,189 134,878,182 1,201,072 1,856,619 2,277,427 133,021,563 2,277,428 133,021,563 27.4 20.0 58,338
        $500,000 under $1,000,000 451,937 308,430,371 227,032,986 451,937 80,228,774 451,937 73,322,123 -6,906,651 0 0 264,492 3,291,593 451,937 76,613,716 291,480 1,206,016 451,244 75,407,700 451,244 75,407,765 33.2 24.4 166,855
        $1,000,000 under $1,500,000 114,410 138,081,370 99,105,694 114,410 39,118,095 114,410 34,971,365 -4,146,731 0 0 30,849 759,211 114,410 35,730,575 79,709 718,617 114,270 35,011,959 114,270 35,011,959 35.3 25.4 306,022
        $1,500,000 under $2,000,000 48,813 84,037,419 59,287,300 48,813 24,658,726 48,813 21,741,025 -2,917,701 0 0 11,069 351,040 48,813 22,092,065 35,258 418,163 48,745 21,673,902 48,745 21,673,902 36.6 25.8 444,019
        $2,000,000 under $5,000,000 70,666 210,875,738 143,973,871 70,666 63,822,855 70,666 55,165,147 -8,657,708 0 0 15,187 791,661 70,666 55,956,808 52,828 1,461,677 70,548 54,495,130 70,548 54,495,271 37.9 25.8 771,167
        $5,000,000 under $10,000,000 17,402 118,927,039 75,323,812 17,402 36,928,071 17,402 30,660,333 -6,267,738 0 0 3,465 359,912 17,402 31,020,245 13,751 863,282 17,359 30,156,963 17,359 30,156,963 40.0 25.4 1,732,960
        $10,000,000 or more 10,647 303,816,161 160,470,557 10,647 94,263,888 10,647 72,345,441 -21,918,447 0 0 2,178 912,996 10,647 73,258,436 8,909 2,931,672 10,619 70,326,764 10,619 70,326,764 43.8 23.1 6,605,313

     


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 2:30pm

    I think that's the reason this proposal doesn't actually cut the deficit, which has ironically become the House conservatives' talking point.


    by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 2:53pm

    This is the kind of partisan sentiment that has created the gridlock in DC.  Obama wanted 250K, the other side didn't want to tax anyone regardless of amount.  Then some on the moderate conservative side proposed just those who make a million or more.  They ended up with 400K. 

    Some would call the give and take of negotiations.  But to those stuck in trenches of partisan warfare it is appeasement. 


    by Anonymous Trope (not verified) on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 1:30pm

    Right - forget the huge amount of revenue $ foregone, the amount of spending cuts to make up for that cash, the upcoming debt ceiling fight, and simply the loss of face and political power in seeing Obama blink yet again...

    To you it's always some theoretical grudge match, not actual accounting.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 3:40pm

    Speaking of accounting, I spent some time counting the number of republicans in the house and there were more of them than Democrats. Stevens "capitulation" regarding the 13th amendment was done based on similar accounting.

    by Anonymous trope (not verified) on Wed, 01/02/2013 - 5:55pm

    Speaking of accounting, I spent some time counting the number of republicans in the house and there were more of them than Democrats. Stevens "capitulation" regarding the 13th amendment was done based on similar accounting.

    by Anonymous trope (not verified) on Wed, 01/02/2013 - 5:55pm

    Guardian:

    .....while it's possible that Obama threw away his leverage by reaching an agreement and compromising on the baseline for tax increases, it's also true that he locked in a series of (stimulative) policy measures he might not have gotten if he done nothing.

    Was it worth risking austerity policies that squeeze the middle class simply to lock in even higher tax revenues? Perhaps......when you're dealing with House Republicans, who could have very easily passed a tax cut bill after going over the cliff that ignored EITC or unemployment insurance, or even set the tax threshold at $500,000 and dared Democrats in the Senate to block it, I find it very difficult to criticize the president too harshly....Obama went with the bird-in-hand of a certain deal. Arguing that he could have gotten a better agreement had he held out sounds reasonable, but it ignores the potential obstacles in dealing with a political party that has no interest in the plight of working people or the responsibilities that come with running a large country....


    by NCD on Tue, 01/01/2013 - 1:50pm