Posted: Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:15 am | Updated: 7:04 pm, Wed Dec 26, 2012.
The “fiscal cliff” coming Jan. 1 will test Republicans and Democrats. The November 2012 elections are over, and it is now time for Republicans and Democrats to come together and solve the country’s fiscal cliff dilemma. The huge deficits and accumulated debt incurred by our federal government are coming to a head. If the president and Congress do not reach a compromise by the end of this year, automatic, drastic spending cuts and substantial income tax increases will hit almost all Americans on Jan. 1 to the tune of at least $600 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Economists have repeatedly warned the president and Congress this will tip the country back into a substantial recession, with more unemployment and more job layoffs across the board. The next day after the recent elections, the stock market got clobbered. 401(k) retirement plan balances that most Americans own got whacked, also.Both the Republicans and Democrats are going to have to compromise in order to arrive at a deal that will be good for all Americans. This means tax increases in exchange for spending cuts. Anybody who knows me knows that I do not like tax increases. In fact, I prefer tax decreases. Substantial tax increases mean there will be no meaningful reform or efficiency measures taken on entitlement and other federal government spending programs.
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But in order to reach a deal between the two parties, compromise will be needed at the end of the day. Neither side is going to get all that it wants. In fact, if the president and Congress allow the fiscal cliff to occur, it will be political suicide for all involved. States risk losing billions of dollars in block grants if no fix is found. The cuts will affect state education, police, health care and infrastructure spending. Even if a fiscal cliff deal is reached by the end of the year, our problems will not be solved. Bill Gross, the PIMCO bond guru (with over $1.9 trillion under asset management) has stated the U.S. fiscal cliff is deeper than advertised. “It is a Grand Canyon” rather than just a cliff.
I agree with Mr. Gross. Tax increases on the “wealthy” (those making over $250,000 per year) to the tune of a top tax rate of 39.6 percent instead of the current top tax rate of 35 percent will generate approximately $80 billion, according to most reports I have read. We have more than a trillion-dollar deficit each year, with over $16 trillion in total U.S. debt that’s growing by billions each day. The Fitch Bond Ratings stated “tax increases and spending cuts implied by the fiscal cliff would not fully address the longer-term drivers of higher public spending and the narrow and volatile tax base.” This debt and annual deficits are so huge that there will have to be substantial tax increases and even more substantial spending cuts. A pro-growth economic strategy also must be incorporated into the equation.
One item not discussed very much is the very low-interest rate environment we are in. This has allowed the federal government to borrow billions of dollars at a very low interest expense. These interest rates are at an artificially low rate due primarily to “quantitative easing” by the Federal Reserve Bank. What happens if financial market forces (i.e., global bond holders) propel interest rates higher? The federal deficit will grow even larger, and by a substantial amount. The increased interest payments owed to bond holders will take way from other federal government programs such as defense, education and social welfare programs such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. This, in turn, could produce social unrest such as what we are seeing now in Greece and other foreign countries. This debt accumulation must stop because it is putting our national security at risk.
I do not see how the president and Congress will be able to make a deal by the end of the year on this complicated issue. We are only a few days away from the deadline. I imagine Congress and the president will agree to an extension of the fiscal cliff in order to give themselves more time to reach a deal. In other words, they will “kick the can down the road.”
For the sake of our country, I advise the following:
Republicans and Democrats, start compromising now.
I agree with Mr. Gross. Tax increases on the “wealthy” (those making over $250,000 per year) to the tune of a top tax rate of 39.6 percent instead of the current top tax rate of 35 percent will generate approximately $80 billion, according to most reports I have read. We have more than a trillion-dollar deficit each year, with over $16 trillion in total U.S. debt that’s growing by billions each day. The Fitch Bond Ratings stated “tax increases and spending cuts implied by the fiscal cliff would not fully address the longer-term drivers of higher public spending and the narrow and volatile tax base.” This debt and annual deficits are so huge that there will have to be substantial tax increases and even more substantial spending cuts. A pro-growth economic strategy also must be incorporated into the equation.
One item not discussed very much is the very low-interest rate environment we are in. This has allowed the federal government to borrow billions of dollars at a very low interest expense. These interest rates are at an artificially low rate due primarily to “quantitative easing” by the Federal Reserve Bank. What happens if financial market forces (i.e., global bond holders) propel interest rates higher? The federal deficit will grow even larger, and by a substantial amount. The increased interest payments owed to bond holders will take way from other federal government programs such as defense, education and social welfare programs such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. This, in turn, could produce social unrest such as what we are seeing now in Greece and other foreign countries. This debt accumulation must stop because it is putting our national security at risk.
I do not see how the president and Congress will be able to make a deal by the end of the year on this complicated issue. We are only a few days away from the deadline. I imagine Congress and the president will agree to an extension of the fiscal cliff in order to give themselves more time to reach a deal. In other words, they will “kick the can down the road.”
For the sake of our country, I advise the following:
Republicans and Democrats, start compromising now.
Bill Hellmann is a CPA and an owner of his CPA firm since 1982. He was the school board president of the Morrisville Borough School District from December 2007 through November 2011. Prior to that, he was the Morrisville Borough controller from 1991 through November 2007.
62 comments:
The true voice of "compromise" when he's speaking candidly behind the scenes and not writing guest opinions to the newspaper.
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill hellmann cpa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:55 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: engineering services, high school boilers
i am the one that stirs the drink. if i sit there, yonson's spending
will kill this town. she has two puppet board members that do whatever she tells them, and the TINY pro-schoolers crew. ha ha ha! they are all sand pounders. ha ha ha !
one by one they are either leaving or being replaced. soon, yonson will be by herself. i have been talking to bill farrara and i like him and so do other board members. he likes the consolidation we are talking about (tuitioning out). i assured him we will always need a super and at least one principal.
i know i am not polite at the meetings. i will work on that and try to be more patient and respectful to the other fools. my problem is i have little patience for incompetence and i am surrounded by those types of people up there.
More from Mr. Compromise...
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill_hellmannXXXXX@yahoo.com}
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:38 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: The truth is
how am i to control the meeting when reithmeyer constantly interrupts and yonson constantly interrupts and the pro-schoolers speak out of line?
the problem, gloria, is we have to make decisions that are unpopular to a certain segment that attends the meetings. there is no way out of it. it is either that or the town goes financially in trouble. yonson, kemp, reithrneyer and the pro-schoolers have no talent in the area of planning or
financial projections. they do not know what the ramifications of their voting is. yonson wants to spend unlimited to get scores up. kemp wants a private school for his kid. reithrneyer wants to be a popular politician and do nothing except raise taxes extremely high. the pro-schoolers want a
private school for their kids.
NONE OF THEM REALIZE THE FINANCIAL SUFFERING TO COME THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
the old board meetings were chaotic also, even more so, because of the CONTROVERSY. there is no way out of these raucous meetings. if you can't
take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
There are plenty of real reasons Hellmann and his cohorts were defeated in the November 2011 school board election, despite reducing taxes. I don't think he has the capacity to comprehend what they are. Inability to engage and compromise was a big one, though. So it's kind of odd that he's advocating this in a newspaper guest opinion. Reality is that he doesn't practice what he's preaching. Did he change or evolve? I don't think so. Is he gearing up for another run for office?
I'm speechless. I stood up there at the microphone as Board President Compromise shut me down like squashing a bug. It's the Republican no compromise mindset like his that got this country in the mess we're in.
So let me get this straight. According to Hellmann, if Congress doesn’t act and act fast, drastic spending cuts and substantial income tax increases will hit, and the country will tip back into a substantial recession.
So in order to avoid this, it is imperative that Republicans and Democrats alike compromise and cut a deal on, wait for it … tax increases in exchange for spending cuts. In fact, substantial tax increases and even more substantial spending cuts, because the debt and deficit are so huge.
He uses the word "substantial" several times, yet he offers no "substance".
Did he just manage to say almost nothing with 700 words?
Dear Mr. Hellmann, I propose that you send a letter to each and every member of Congress indicating that you have ceased paying your Federal Taxes until you and you alone are convinced that Congress has made "substantial" progress on avoiding the Fiscal Cliff.
Hey Bill you better stir that drink. It's kinda sludgy. Lots of backwash too!
Pay your Garbage Bill, Bill!!!
Ignore the trash talk - Pay your trash bill
I would have preferred to see Hellman's article in his fake newspaper.
Bill H, CPA compromise??????
HA HA HA HA HA HA
ROTFLMAO
Drastic spending cuts and substantial income tax increases bad. Even more substantial spending cuts and substantial tax increases good. Got it. Problems solved. Mr. JUST COOPERATE is now Mr. Compromise. What a joke. Pay your garbage bills and stop taking of documents out of Boro Hall w/o authorization and you may have better standing in the Ville community. Still lousy but better. Its hard to atone for alot of your other callous and underhanded things.
What's Hellmann telling his Congressional buddy Mikey Fitz to do? The Tea Bag fouled Repub. party can't agree to or on anything. Boener couldn't even get a vote on thestupid Plan B from Outer Space. Gotta protect those rich fat cats! We need permission from unelected self apppinted whatever he is Grover Norquist to take a pee. Get your heads out of your and Grover's and Koch Bros. big corporate moneybags butts and stop kowtowing to TeaBag extremists and who knows maybe compromise can occur. I'm not ready to trust charlatans like Hellmann and his letters from the bunker. I'm sick of his brand of politics both in Morrisville and on the national scene. You know it's bad when the National scene looks alot like Morrisvlle.
The Democrat posted at 3:36 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Posts: 9
We need to tell the Republican Party and especially the Tea Party that we are not going to play their childish games any longer.
Never before in history have we seen such childish behaviour from a political party as we see now with Republicans. How can the American People elect Representatives to their government who take pledges from unelected people who are set on destroying our country for their own monetary gain.
The time has come for us to stand up and say enough is enough and begin the process of taking back our country from these self serving political hacks in the Republican Party.
Granted the Democrats aren't perfect but they at least have the majority in the best interest of the country and not just the 2% rich who could care less about anyone but themselves.If we continue down this road the Republicans seek to travel this country will no longer be fit to live in.God help us if we don't get this mess straightened out . We are already the laughing stock of the free world
By far the biggest reason we're at the fiscal cliff is uncompromising extremists in the Republican Party took the USA to the brink of default over the debt ceiling in 2011. We got an economically hurtful S&P credit downgrade out of it. These same uncompromising extremists couldn't agree to a reasonable debt reduction and budget deal, so fiscal cliff poison pills were auto baked into a kick the can spending bill. Blame is about 95% R, 5% D in my book. You know it's bad when a guy like Hellmann who's more My Way than Frank Sinatra calls for compromise. You also know that Hellmann and the Teapublicans must be coming from a position of weakness, because otherwise he'd be shoving His Way down our throats. I'll give Hellmann some credit for calling for compromise.
The Emperor got his electoral a$$ handed to him because he couldn't compromise.
MV Watcher posted at 7:49 pm on Thu, Dec 27, 2012.
Posts: 27
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! What we all forget here is that Mr. Compromise used to be the Tea Party Republican school board preident in Morrisville who was famous for his "Just Cooperate!" dismissive attitude. He got his butt handed to him because the voters of Morrisville got tired with the obstructionist political games. America will turn the Republicans into the next extinct political party soon.
The Emperor's low grade sidekicks didn't help.
That S&P US credit downgrade last year? Mikey Fitz thinks it was orchstrated by the U.S. Treasury Dept. Bat crap crazy and its enablers hard at work. After a while, sometimes a disconcertingly long while, enough people catch on, your brand suffers, and you are served your own buttocks.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/fitzpatrick-was-downgrade-orchestrated-by-treasury/article_9f9fde8a-82a0-51c5-b870-71aec3267ff1.html
The largest factors in the mess we're in are 2 unfunded wars and the Bush tax cuts.
Anyone hear a peep out of Hellmann about these?
Great - Hellmann has a secret plan to avoid the fiscal cliff and return us to prosperity. Now that you have insulted him by critizing him and his letter, he will keep this secret 6 Point Plan a secret forever.
Even Pres Bush 43 had the good sense to fade away after he f***ed the country. Why cant this CPIdiot?
How could you???
When you're that talented and always right, it would be almost criminal to fade away.
Since he's got his ear, I hope Hellman tells our congressman not to miss the oath this time while continuing to do nothing "substantial" in office.
Hellmann needs to get his own house in order before he proclaims what the entire country should do.
I am wary of elitist eggheads with advanced credentials like CPA.
Congressional Leaders Hopeful As Fiscal Cliff Deadline Nears
by David Welna
December 29, 2012 5:22 AM
Even though the top four Congressional leaders left their White House meeting with the president separately and silently on Friday, they cast the hour-long encounter in a positive light back at the Capitol.
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi described the tone of the discussion to head off across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts as "candid." An aide to House Speaker John Boehner put out a statement that noted that the group agreed the next step should be the Senate's — a tacit acknowledgement that Boehner is no longer the lead negotiator with President Obama.
"It was very constructive," said Sen. Harry Reid, who leads the Senate's Democratic majority. "We hope that it will bear fruit, but that is what we've hoped a lot. I think that the next 24 hours will be very instructive as to what we're able to accomplish."
Republicans had been predicting that President Obama would be presenting them with a new proposal, but Reid told reporters that did not happen.
"We talked about a lot of things, [but] there's no concrete proposal at this time," he said. "We have a number of different directions we're going to try to take and we're going to see what can be worked out."
On the Senate floor, Republican leader Mitch McConnell dropped the verbal attacks he has been making on Democrats in recent days; instead, he struck a conciliatory tone, hopeful perhaps that Congress might actually avoid a fiscal cliff debacle for which Republicans might well be blamed.
"We are engaged in discussions — the majority leader and myself and the White House — in the hopes that we can come forward as early as Sunday and have a recommendation that I can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference," McConnell said. "I'm hopeful and optimistic."
Later, Reid's office put out a statement saying that at the request of the president, he would draft legislation to be voted on by Monday, the last day of the year.
That legislation would extend expiring tax cuts only for household income below $250,000 and include other unspecified provisions that Reid said the president wanted; among them is likely an extension of emergency unemployment benefits that would otherwise expire.
Reid indicated he was willing to see that bill changed in negotiations with McConnell. Republicans want tax cuts extended for income higher than $250,000, they want no increase in the estate tax, and they do not want the top tax rate to go back up near 40 percent.
On the Senate floor, Reid sounded a warning to his colleagues.
"I'm going to do everything that I can," Reid said. "I'm confident Sen. McConnell will do the same, but ... whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect, and some people aren't going to like it. Some people will like it less, but that's where we are."
So as the least productive Congress in memory comes to a close, a new-found spirit of compromise began to pervade the gloom of a rare post-Christmas session of the Senate.
Retiring Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison went to the Senate floor with a message for her colleagues: What they do this long weekend before New Year's will not be forgotten.
"It will be remembered about the president's term and will be remembered by members of Congress, if we actually don't do something that is a compromise, because at this point, it has to be bipartisan," Hutchison said. "There's no question that something has to pass the House and the Senate with votes from the minority party."
If such a bipartisan bill does not come together by Sunday, when both the House and Senate meet again, Congress will have to confront the proposal of a re-elected president who has public opinion on his side.
The ELEPHANT in the room from this post is the fact not the fact that CPA is a(n) ________. It's that CPA identified SUPER for what he was/is years ago, and actually was ahead of the curve in this town in figuring out SUPER's true colors. CPA gone. SOC gone. Somebody needs to take the next logical step before the leader of our school district does what CPA empowered him to do.
His contract is getting closer to expiration. Board must do a real search and vetting process, use their brains, make the best choice.
Maybe the new board can do an actual search for a superintendent instead of anointing an underqualified crony.
Contract closer to expiration. Vetting process. Interviews. Can these things happen before he runs this district into the ground? Farm out? Tuition? Vouchers? Internet School? K-8?
Farrell's son is apparently unemployed. He thinks it's Obama's and Democrats' fault. Couldn't possibly be any fault of his own. SOC can you hook him up with the School District, one of your own has his hand out???
pajmf1 posted at 7:06 pm on Sat, Dec 29, 2012.
Posts: 379
Maybe you could tell us where all of the jobs are these days since I can't find any.
One of those lazy 47%'ers living off the taxpayer teat collecting unemployment, huh? Get a job you nonproductive taker! Idle hands are the devil's workshop!!!!!!!!
Will ObamaCare cover a personality transplant?
I'm sorry the junior Farrell is unemployed. I guess its when the free market works AGAINST you that you suddenly want the government to step in.
Insert THUMBS UP icon here.
"I'll give Hellmann some credit for calling for compromise."
Ditto
"The Emperor got his electoral a$$ handed to him because he couldn't compromise."
Ditto again.
The presidential election seemed to polarize the country to such extremes that the people in the middle -- i.e. those that understand how to compromise -- get left out in the cold. I thought that the tragedy in Newtown, CT, would've helped bring us together but it only brought further extremes.
We should not be on the eve of the "fiscal cliff" (what a stupid name) before our representatives can and would be willing to negotiate and compromise. They should be willing to take a more reasoned approach 365 days a year (or at least the 200 or so that they work). But, alas, it is politics as usual.
We should demand better.
3 out of the 4 remaining SOC members gone in 2013 and the Super next !!!!!
oh this is going to be a fun year.
Although I do not agree with Mr. Farrell's politics, I do not see anything that his son said to be accusing Obama or Democrats of fault. He didn't mention anything about the government in his post. I actuall agree with him that people are painting a rosier picture of the state of the economy.
Maybe not there, but ......
pajmf1 at 12:19 pm on Saturday, Oct 13, 2012
" Are we better offnow than in 2008? We may have lost a lot of Jobs (700,000 per month for a couple of meonths) just prior to Pres.. Obama's inauguaration, but those were not numbers that were going to continue! Since he voted for TARP, and signed his stimulus, you would expect a boost in employment? But unemployment has not been below 8.1% since! The economy should be growing over 3% (we have had other recoveries growing at 5-7%), This economy is stumbling along at 1.7%. Job Growth? we need 175,000 jobs per month to keep up with the population. We need 300-500,000 per month to recover from Pres. Obama's recovery. Many of us have experienced the net Wage shrinking of about $4000 per year. What happened to wanges increasing 3-5% per year? instead wages or net wages have gone DOWN since Pres. Obama was inaugurated! Federal Employees wages are UP, Teachers Unions are insiting on guarnteed wage growth, but that is NOT what many of us are experiencing. And if Pres. Obama gets re-elected, we'll lose another $2-3000 via Tax Increases on the wage earners that he CLAIMS to represent! Can we afford another 4 years, and another $4 -6 Trillion deficit? and another $4000 wage decrease?
I simply stated my position. I have been out of work for almost two years now despite sending out thousands of resumes. Vote for whomever you wish. I will vote with my wallet. "
- pajmf1 at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012
Since I am definitely NOT better off now than I was four years ago, I will not be voting for Obama. "
- pajmf1 at 2:55 pm on Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012
I looked up that long quote. It was posted by someone with a screen name of pennsbury1987. Maybe his son voted for Gary Johnson like me.
I pay a lot less taxes under Obama. In fact, my taxes have decreased 100% since I am unemployed. "
- pajmf1 at 9:26 am on Friday, Oct 19, 2012
When does Obama own the economy? Oh, that's right - he is a Democrat, so anything that goes right is to his credit, but anything that goes badly is someone else's fault. You are ridiculous!
- pajmf1 at 9:27 am on Tuesday, Sep 25, 2012
pajmf1 posted at 9:39 am on Thu, Sep 27, 2012.
If I keep "moving forward" with Obama, I will be broke.
I get the picture. Where I disagree is over whether this guy is worth talking about this much. I don't think he is.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! Haha!
Do you see anything now about his accusing Obama or Democrats of fault?
I really don't. I do see that he is upset about being unemployed, but unless I actually spoke to him and heard him say that Obama or Democrats are specifically at fault, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe that is my optimistic side showing.
IMHO, he is not really relevant to what is going on in Morrisville, esp. the school district.
In some cases, being an insufferable tool can conribute to one's employment status.
I thought he was such a financial wiz! It would be the ultimate irony if he went from Wall Street to living on the street.
While I may not agree with people in town, I don't wish them any ill will. I hope that no one here who was so nasty with some of their comments ever finds themselves unemployed.
Fair enough, and I wish him well but that guy has been quite nasty in his own right. A little slice of humble pie might do him some good during his job search and in life.
I've known the Farrell family for years. Bill, Sheila, and their two sons are very nice people.
Good for you. I have only met Bill and his son Jason. I have found them to be pompous and self-righteous.
You forgot hypocritical.
Did you ever tell them that to their faces?
Yes. What is your point?
So if I asked both of them if anyone ever said that to their faces and they tell me that no one has, I will know you are lying. That's all.
Count me among the ones who have told a Farrell (just Bill) to their face about their hypocrisy. If you ask him and he says no, I will know he is lying. Most of our discussion focused on how I felt that some of the people he hitched his wagon to (Hellmann, Mihok) aren't exactly paragons of morality, which runs counter to the moral code he mentions that he lives by.
You can do what you want, but I haven't seen the guy for nearly 2 years, and I'd just as soon let it go.
http://mvbulldogbanter.blogspot.com/2011/05/news-flash-bill-farrell-supports-stay.html
It is easy to make claims anonymously. Some might even say it is too easy.
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