A weekend game of tax 'Chicken'

The “fiscal cliff” story is dominating national news this weekend. Reports describe a high-stakes game of "Chicken" being played inside Congress, and in negotiations with the president.

As things stand, 35 hours before the dawn of 2013:

Personal Social Security taxes will jump 2 percentage points; unemployment benefits will end for millions; taxes on dividends will double and even triple; capital gains taxes will rise by one-third or higher for wealthy people and jump from zero to 10% for others; estate taxes will skyrocket; rapid depreciation policies that boost business development will end; and millions more will get hit by the convoluted alternative minimum tax; the highest income tax rate will jump from 35 to 39.6 percent, but partisans are battling over the income threshold for that hike.

Even with a last-minute deal, when that glass ball falls at Times Square Monday night, it is going to illuminate a major financial crush for American taxpayers who now must pay for their gross national over-spending of recent decades.

In a small effort to avoid ending 2012 on such a low note, a few quotes about money:

Jerry Seinfeld: “Dogs have no money. You know why dogs have no money? No pockets.”

Richard Friedman: “Money will buy you a fine dog, but only love can make it wag its tail.”

Anonymous: “If you loan someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.”

IRS Auditor: “The trick is to stop thinking of it as ‘your’ money.”

- Jeb Bladine
Publisher