[Geewiz]

Taxes are scheduled to go up at least 5 percent at the end of the year (2 percent FICA and 3 percent for the common tax brackets) under current law plus the marriage penalty and Alternate Minimum Tax will hammer a lot of folks. I believe the current plan is to let them expire and then the dems will force repubs to agree to a retroactive reduction provided that it does not include folks in the top tax brackets. This is a big game of chicken and who can say how it will end up. I believe that both parties would want the lame duck session to accept the political heat...but, that will require a degree of common sense and compromise that have not been Washington's strong point for the past few years. Plus, there is the sequester that will cause fiscal chaos. Tighten your belts...it's gonna be a rocky road and after McConnell's speech last night, I'm not feeling real good about it. Let's hope good sense prevails and compromise can be found. I hope this isn't too political...I've tried not to advocate a position.