Ok, I have to chime in here with something that seems to have been ignored..

One of the arguments against letting the taxes increase 'for the rich' (and, for the record, I hate that term) is that it will hurt "mom and pop businesses".

This is framed in such a wrong manner it's ridiculous.

We're talking about a tax rate increase from 34% to 37%, if I read my number right. On top of that, it would be ON THE PROFITS OF THE BUSINESS.

That mean that the "mom and pop" business has to be CLEARING over $250,000. Those are NOT "struggling" businesses.

In addition, the extra 3% tax is on the AMOUNT OVER $250K. So if "mom and pop" are clearing JUST $250K, they see no tax increase. If they clear $500K, they see an increase in their taxes of $7,500 (going from $85,000 in taxes on that extra $250K up to $92,500) - the 3% of the extra $250K.

If "mom and pop" are clearing NOTHING - and remember that expenses include PAYING THEMSELVES SALARIES then the business isn't paying taxes on any profit and "mom and pop" are just paying taxes on their salaries.

Now, personally, I'm more in favor of fairer, flatter taxes but can we at least use more facts in the debate?