Tagged: Fiscal Cliff

The dreaded drop off the fiscal cliff has been avoided, so what does it mean for our taxes.  Before the agreement, there were dire predictions that many middle-class Americans could see their yearly tax bills go up by some three thousand dollars, if Congress and the White House did not agree on a tax and spending plan by the time the ball dropped in Times Square.

The House of Representatives late Tuesday easily approved emergency bipartisan legislation sparing all but a sliver of America’s richest from sharp income tax hikes -- while setting up another “fiscal cliff” confrontation in a matter of weeks.

Lawmakers voted 257-167 to send the compromise to President Barack Obama to sign into law. Eighty-five Republicans and 172 Democrats backed the bill, which passed in the Senate by an 89-8 margin. Opposition comprised 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats.

Medical device makers are warning of job losses and other consequences if a 2.3 percent excise tax takes effect on Jan. 1, as scheduled.

The tax is one of several imposed on segments of the health care industry to pay for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Lobbyists representing the medical device industry have been urging Congress to include a postponement of the tax as part of any compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Representatives from three health care systems in New York’s North Country are warning that there will be severe ramifications to health care if the nation goes over the fiscal cliff.

The nation is fast approaching the so-called fiscal cliff, and after last week’s school shooting in Connecticut and the addition of gun policy to the legislative agenda, it’s unclear whether democrats and republicans will be able to make up their minds on anything before the end of the lame duck session.