[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

First of all, let's get one thing straight... not a single person on this forum is "increasing the deficit". Not a single person on this forum decides that small bandaids on a budget that is hemorrhaging money is appropriate. Not a single person on this forum is having their pockets padded by Lobbyists.

Sure you were, you all were.

Without that extra 2% to be converted into securities the government had to borrow more money to cover obligations.

Everyone here voted for government representation that put these laws into place.

You my friend are guilty as charged.

At the end of the first year when I took the reins of the company I used to work for, revenue was down about 10% but this strange thing happened... profits were up. Crazy thing that I learned at a young age when it comes to budgeting - As a first step, it is significantly easier to find waste and reduce unneeded expenses than it is to increase revenue.

It can be easy to get many companies profitable by cutting expenses, but it also can damage the long-term health of a business or have a negative impact to employees. What happened to the profit your firm generated?

One of the drags on the global economy right now are the austerity measures taken in the EU. Spending has to be drawn down, if we cut back too fast we'll plunge right back into recession.

Now, with that in mind, I'd be perfectly fine with FICA going back to normal if it also meant during the time of the tax cut, politicians cut expenses. If we were working towards a more balanced budget, I'd actually be ok with the increase. However with the new plan, we have a tax increase *and* increased spending, with a net increase to the deficit.

I'm confident we'll see more this year.

And let's stop all the BS with "it's not a tax increase, it's back to where it was before." Doesn't matter. On December 31, we were all paying one rate and as of Jan 1 that rate is higher. It's an increase, whether it was an expiring cut or not.

Why all the outrage? I don't seem to remember anyone praising the Fed when their payroll contributions were temporarily lowered.

Interestingly enough, Congress found it necessary to increase FICA back to where it was (excuse me, not "extend the temporary cut"), yet Obama felt as though the federal pay freeze needed to cease, through Executive Order. Must have felt Congress deserved it due to the extra time in session digging themselves out of their self-imposed "fiscal cliff". And with the continued expansion and extra work within the federal government due to inefficiencies by everyone involved, all federal employees definitely deserved the pay raise as well.

Ending a 2-3 year pay freeze with a bump of .5 to 1%...not exactly a massive increase for those engaged in foreign service, our military etc...

-spence