You may be right. Tax increases always have negative effects.

Perfect plan for taking us down. I'm disgusted. So much for helping the middle class. Are we going to have a country left? Employers are doing away with insurance and are hiring independent contractors to avoid payroll taxes. I think taking 70% from the salaries of all senators and congressmen, including the president, VP and cabinet is a good plan, plus take away their insurance and pensions and block special interest groups. That should take care of the deficit without tax increases on the population.

As usual, the focus on "class war" on the rich vs the middle class, failed to look at the regressive nature of the FICA TAX and its impact on the middle class. That 2% hike and the matching hike from employers is hurting the middle class and small bizs alike. For the average taxpayer, it is about $200 a week. There are other taxes that came into effect Jan 1 that has nothing to do with income, and is also regressive. Everything adds up and there is less take home pay for the middle class. Our President assured us that the middle class would be protected but I guess he forgot about all of the other taxes scheduled to hit for 2013 and beyond. These taxes were ignored in the "fiscal cliff" negotiation, so taxes hit the middle hard again. Oh well, somebody has to pay off the national debt, it may as well be the middle class since no one else will do it!