At the Last Minute…
We’ve all been guilty of waiting until the last minute to complete a task – it could be because of laziness, other priorities, needing more information, waiting for others, but over the last two weeks, we saw waiting until the last minute at its finest. Congress technically failed to pass legislation to stop the “fiscal cliff” before December 31, 2012. However, Congress did pass H.R. 8 – The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 just before midnight struck on January 1, 2013 – ensuring continued tax relief for the majority of taxpayers.
Yesterday, the 113th Congress was sworn in, and not despite controversy. Fingers were pointed at the Speaker of the House for his role in the fiscal cliff negotiation, aid for Hurricane Sandy victims and damage… but the GOP still believes in his leadership capabilities. Despite not discussing the spending cuts in the fiscal cliff compromise, and getting some of his campaign promises on the books (raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans – representing 2% of taxpaying citizens), President Obama warned Congress he would not get into another debate regarding the debt ceiling and spending cuts.
We’ve heard a lot about changing the thought process and mentality of our society – but where do we start? How do we start? The people who have talked about this need for change most are the people guilty of blaming, accusing, and procrastinating on putting sound policies into place.
Now is not the time to wait until the last minute. Employers, employees, business owners, managers, taxpayers – there are still many, many policies and regulations that need to be focused on that will make a major impact on our day-to-day lives, both personally and professionally, including the debt ceiling, spending cuts, healthcare, regulatory agenda, social security, labor issues… the list goes on. All eyes will be on this new Congress and their ability to work together with their constituencies, the President, and between themselves. Will they wait until the last minute? Only time will tell.
While we anxiously await our future in the hopeful hands of a new Congress, read the latest Legislative Alert on the tax increases and tax extensions included in H.R. 8, and get planning for your own financial success in 2013!