The headline’s description isn’t a joke. The newly passed fiscal cliff bill must be good because everybody thinks it sucks.
The talking heads, financial columnists, politicians, your neighbors, cubicle mates, and online commenters are unified in blasting the bill as short-sighted, lame, harsh, unfair to the rich, and unfair to the poor.
Pain needs to be spread across the board, across political divides, across donkeys, elephants, and tea parties, across rich and poor.
The new bill means working stiffs will pay a few hundred extra dollars in payroll taxes. The upper middle class will pay a few thousand more. And the mega-rich will pay hundreds of thousands more.
It’s a baby step to fixing the nation’s economy and tackling the escalating budget deficit. Spending cuts still need to be made. More bickering is soon to follow. But this is a good start. After all, everybody is crying.
About $41 in tax hikes for every $1 cut in spending, terrific.