So now,the republicans need to cave on being against higher taxes. The left is licking their lips at this prospect. It doesn´t matter that raising taxes on the rich will produce this or that amount of revenue. Rich people can easily devise ways to knock down their tax liability.

Tax rates are a distraction from the real problem of excess spending. Why are we spending 500-800 billion more a year than when Bush left office. Social programs only account for some of that. The rest is pure budget padding so government workers can get performance bonuses at the end of the budget year.
What´s it going to cost taxpayers to fly Hillary Clinton to a stupid wine testing event is Austria or wherever. How about the state dept spending millions on flying chefs around the world to improve diplomatic relations?
Tax increases on whomever aren´t an answer to stupid and reckless gov´t spending.

You could give Obama and the left $2 trillion more a year to spend and it wouldn´t improve the economy one bit.

If you don´t think leftism is pure insanity,listen to this. There was a woman on the radio the other day saying that since aging baby boomers aren´t driving as much it´s hurting gas tax revenue. Even if this is true why isn´t current gas tax collections doing anything for roads or bridges? States use transportation revenues to shore up underwater pension accounts.

Billions were sent to New Orleans over the years to shore up the levees and it was wasted by crooked NO bureaucrats on other things like bronze statues. Then when they broke during Katrina people said more money needs to be spent on them.

The Weekly Standard is losing it. It helps nothing to cave on taxing the rich. Everyone needs to pay more. The debt is that serious a threat to us. Let ALL the Bush tax cuts expire. Let them call it going over the cliff. Just let ALL the Bush tax cuts expire. Life will go on and the republicans will have done the right thing for the country.

If the U.S. was a socialist nation 230 years ago, we would be living in log cabins, riding horses, burning cow chips for heat.

Government is responsible for almost nothing productive, just a portfolio of social disasters. When is enough enough?

So, according to this article, if the Republican party is going to be ´relevant´, it has to become Democrat-lite. Forget that.

This fiscal cliff is YOUR party line, Donks. Remember the malaise (brief) that followed the ´93 tax increase? A repeat on steroids is avoidable, predictable and you can´t stop yourselves because it plays to your hatreds.

RE the drop in gas revenues: Spend a minute and look at this site:

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=A103600001&f=M

Yup... gov numbers. Gas consumption is HALF of what it was in the Bush years. What is going on? Dunno... but I know it´s Obama.

BTW--lots of layoffs going on... anybody see press coverage?

Where is the budget?

When you compromise with evil, evil always wins.

I would let the tax cuts expire for everyone, but this government will just spend the extra revenue and the debt will continue to climb.

The ironic thing is that even if they do raise the tax rate on the wealthy, the wealthy will not pay any more in taxes. They will simply make adjustments that negate any impact to their income. Those adjustments will negatively impact the economy. I expect tax revenue to decrease rather than increase as a result.

Its been projected that the tax on the rich will cost the economy 750,000 jobs. It will impact(lower) the deficit about $800 billion. That means instead of owing 16 TRILLION...we owe 15.2 TRILLION. How does that solve the problem. It appears to make it worse, because now we have another 750,000 unemployed people who not only are not paying any taxes, but they are collecting government benefits.

Those who know economics know that the Clinton tax rates will produce more revenue, not from the top rates, but from the lower brackets. Many more people will have skin in the game. This is particularly true for the Payroll Tax Holiday which reduced the burden of that tax. The people that will see the largest increases in their tax rates are the poor and middle class. There may be some increased revenue from the rich, but they have been preparing their strategies for how to defer or shift income to tax free sources.