See, what I recall from the Obama campaign was "households over $200k" as a baseline for higher taxes, not counting the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
With retirement + a second career + a second earner in a household, it's not hard to hit $150k. The Clinton-era tax bracket for this group was slightly higher and we're just reverting to that level, so the sky is not falling.
However, I'm not certain it's wise to raise taxes for households making under $200 with the economy where it is, however. People have also lost house value, and are reluctant to spend as they normally would on things like new kitchen cabinets, and it's KILLING retail. The little store where I bought my kitchen tile is out of business. I make 5% less than I did two years ago but I don't want to spend money on things like this to improve my house anymore, because I don't know that my job is secure and my house is worth less than I paid for it now, so screw it.
As for kid safety, I think the problem is that hardly anybody lets their kids walk anywhere or do anything unsupervised now, so there are fewer kids out there, creating the illusion that it's weird and unsafe to do this (and maybe it's safer when there are hordes of kids walking to school, anyway, because there you all are, walking within plain view of each other, rather than being the sole kid by herself).
I do live in the burbs and I don't even see kids in their BACKYARDS. They're all at planned activities or playing games on the wii, I guess. I don't know.
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Date: 2010-09-20 05:09 pm (UTC)With retirement + a second career + a second earner in a household, it's not hard to hit $150k. The Clinton-era tax bracket for this group was slightly higher and we're just reverting to that level, so the sky is not falling.
However, I'm not certain it's wise to raise taxes for households making under $200 with the economy where it is, however. People have also lost house value, and are reluctant to spend as they normally would on things like new kitchen cabinets, and it's KILLING retail. The little store where I bought my kitchen tile is out of business. I make 5% less than I did two years ago but I don't want to spend money on things like this to improve my house anymore, because I don't know that my job is secure and my house is worth less than I paid for it now, so screw it.
As for kid safety, I think the problem is that hardly anybody lets their kids walk anywhere or do anything unsupervised now, so there are fewer kids out there, creating the illusion that it's weird and unsafe to do this (and maybe it's safer when there are hordes of kids walking to school, anyway, because there you all are, walking within plain view of each other, rather than being the sole kid by herself).
I do live in the burbs and I don't even see kids in their BACKYARDS. They're all at planned activities or playing games on the wii, I guess. I don't know.