The United States of America should urgently lift itself out of the deficit trench it now is entrapped in.

Once again congress is threatening to hold the President and the nation hostage in order to keep taxes on the wealthy low. At the same time they are clamoring for debt reduction. People should be concerned about this for two reasons; 1. Parity - the "fair share" of the wealthy's taxes should be much larger that that of middle income families who need more of their incomes for basics. 2. Over the past four years, because of the high unemployment and the efforts to avoid a depression, we have spent a lot of money and the country as a whole needs to increase revenue.

The Bush era tax cuts for the VERY wealthy are due to expire. Encourage your Congressional representatives to reduce the taxes on the middle income citizens and NOT give the very wealthy the tax breaks that they have enjoyed for many years.

See below.

At the start of a new presidential term, banning this pledge would throw people off balance, much improve governance, be a display of rightful power, accomplish good for the nation...and gain great publicity.

With a President starting a second term in office, with no potential for another term at stake, this is the perfect opportunity to put politics aside, and make the tough choices necessary to balance our federal budget. This is no just about "avoiding the fiscal cliff," it is about taking a long-term view of the challenges our nation is expected to face, (healthcare/retirement needs of aging baby boomers, exponentially growing cost of higher education, debt crisis at state and local government level, etc.), and working in a united way to make the tough choices to ensure that we are not simply "kicking the can down the road" for the generations of Americans (our children and grandchildren) to deal with.

The "fiscal cliff" is a hoax perpetrated by wealthy and powerful private interests. Our country is not broke!

We are not at a Fiscal Cliff. Wall St. & the plutocrats are still trying to call the shots in spite of the voters rejection of Mitt Romney. Over 70% of the voters believe that the wealthy should pay more in taxes. Instead of reducing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, let's tax the rich. Lowering the taxes on the rich will not create more jobs. We tried that since 2004 Bush tax cuts.

I will be retiring in the not-too-distant future. I worked hard to be able to do so. I want to rest assured that the money I earned will be working for me as it was intended; I want the same for anyone who earned their retirement. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid have nothing to do with the deficit and are in good enough shape to benefit from a bit of tweaking to remain solvent for a long time.

President Obama is too conciliatory. This last term he needs to stand strong, not surrender. He must force the GOP to follow his lead, and require the wealthy to pay their fair share--that is, after all, the reason he won reelection. The 1% have been getting a free ride on the backs of the middle class too long.

I believe most people making over $250,000 are willing to pay 3.9% more in taxes to help the country at this time. Republican leaders aren't representing those making over $250K (even most Republicans making this much) well by refusing to compromise. Let's give the message to Congress that wealthy people do care and we want them to give up being stubborn on this issue.

THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS AFFECTED BY IT.