Topic: Tax Hikes

The "fiscal cliff" poses a significant threat to 30 million Americans due to the scheduled expiration of Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patches. If no deal is reached, the AMT exemption threshold will drop significantly, potentially adding thousands of dollars to the tax bills of middle-class households. The hosts argue that both political parties are complicit in allowing this "tax bomb" to remain under-discussed.

Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar unveiled a harsh austerity budget for 2013, including significant income tax hikes and cuts to public salaries and pensions. The average tax levy on wages is set to rise from 9.8% to over 13%. Thousands of artists and citizens held "cultural protests" in Lisbon to oppose the measures required by the 78 billion euro bailout program.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and OMB projections indicate that federal revenues are scheduled to rise by 30 percent between 2012 and 2014. The hosts interpret "revenue" as a euphemism for massive tax hikes required to manage the $1.1 trillion deficit.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before Congress regarding unemployment insurance proposals. Geithner defended a plan that offers $9 billion in immediate relief to employers in exchange for $67 billion in future tax hikes over a decade. Critics on the committee questioned if this constitutes a "good deal" for small businesses facing long-term capital investment decisions.