Alk the pork should be cut out of this bill and the Hurricane relief bill, the American tax payers have had more than enough. President Obama signed an executive order lifting the pay freeze, it was Congress that blocked it. We were promised in 2008, that our president wouldn't sign a bill with pork in it, what happened to that promise.

Another Globe columnist whose only view on this issue is about how much can be extracted from the wealthy.  She ignores the Trillion dollar deficits which are sinking our nation into bankruptcy.  This is liberalism at its worst.  All they see is ways to punish the wealthy, and take no recognition of the overall fiscal balance.

The level of the publics ignorance regarding the federal budget and how the govt. works is only exceeded by the media's refusal to elucidate and educate the public regrading the facts.  As soon as some pol or some commentor makes the remark, the govt. is bankrupt, I know they are either spinning away or clueless.  Now I have to turn on the TV and which a national Senator talk about a partial shutdown of the govt. over the debt ceiling.  Really?  Who gets to decide what gets paid.  Under current law the Treasury Dept. would decide this and the instruction of the Pres.  I wonder who he'd pay?  But I digress.

Certainly the appropriate thing for us to do is stiff NJ, NY etc. over storm aid.  It's not the federal governments job to help in tmes of regional need.  Let the states do it.  I know Christie's NJ has a few billion kicking around.  My fellow citizens it is not our job to help or aid our fellow citizens in a time of need.  No the purpose of the federal govt. is to?  Well heck someone will figure out the rest of the speech, but it certainly won't be about a nation.  Perhaps we can rewrite the Articles of Confederation that worked out well.

it would be nice if opinion columnists based their opinion on facts

I wish pundits and pols would make clear what an increase marginal tax rates actually does; in this case the tax rate for the dollars earned over $400K/$450 went from 35% to 39.5%. I am sure that most Americans don't understand what a marginal tax rate is: the rate was not raised on the entire income for an individual who made $400,001, but only on the $1. At a minimum they could at least state that the rates were raisd on "income" over $400K/$450K, not on "those" making over $400K/$450K.

I mostly agree with this article.   The payroll tax will really be felt among workers, all my co-workers noticed and mentioned the cut in their checks.  But be careful where you draw that line for raising taxes:  $49,800  might be a great in Alabama, but a family can barely get by on that in Taxachusetts.

Ah, "shared sacrifice"....and where is the "sacrifice" being seen by government employees? The government employees who make far more in total compensation and have excessive job security than comparable workers in the private sector? Why is the only issue for the media the amount of revenue that can be further coerced from the private sector and NEVER the problem of excessive spending on endless useless and duplicative programs to plump compensation for bureaucrats? Imagine merely a freeze on all government salaries. Does anyone think that even a miniscule number of goverment workers would leave their jobs for the risks and productivity demands of private sector employment? Why not freeze all public salaries until there IS some significant, voluntary, movement by employees in the public sector to the private sector? Isn't that the only way to determine the "equity" of their compensation? Why isn't that "fairness" worth a simple test? Don't hold your breath while waiting for "equity" of this kind to be explored.

"Kitch" Really.  "BG will NEVER request that people at the bottom lift their game to get ahead. NEVER."  I find it hard to believe you actually believe in the capacity of the American "lower class", for lack of better choice of words, to rise up the economic ladder.  I cannot believe you actually believe there is a path from the bottom to the top, a path that not even the middle class can find.  I come from the lower rung, but without patting myself on the back I don't know how else to say this.  I was smarter than most, more manipulative than most and took advantage of the system better than almost anyone I know.  The question is exactly how does the intellectually challenged, financially challenged, system challenged groupings rise.  They don't.  that's why we have or at least are supposed to have a social consciounse. 

Read the wsj on this " deal "

Good grief "Kitch" such an easy cop-out.  It's all the illegal aliens fault.  Out of wedlock births are the problem/ Income inequality is the illegals fault?  A tilted tax system?  Corporate welfare?  A disjointed and dysfunctional educational system?  A disjointed, dysfunctional political system?  An overblown department of defense?  A gutless public unwilling to pay the cost of the benefits they desire?  Elected officials who understand the financial system of government even less then the general public.  All of this is the fault of "illegals" and "out of wedlock babies".  Well burn my clothes I didn't realize it was so easy to solve our problems.

"be"  The WSJ was once a newspaper I respected those days are long gone.  The "deal" as it is called is a joke.  A joke on both the left and the right.  It solves nothing and contributes little.  The basic problem is fairly simple.  The American public does not wish to be taxed at a level that is in balance with the programs from defense to entitlements that it desires.  Ask any of your true believer TP types do they want SS cut or Medicare cut or defense cut and the answer is No.  They will jump to "illegals" or some other nonsense that has little to do with our difficulties.  I've been listening to this BS for years and very few pols or members of the public approach the issue rationaly. 

You spend at a rate of 20% of GDP you want to balance, tax at the same rate and quit whining.

"Kitch"  Sorry you took that as a put down or sarcastic, write it iff as a poor attempt at humor.  I have always respected your views even when we don't agree.  You are a very rational writer.  So please my apologies.

Now frankly I do think you become a tad obsessed with certain elements such as "race", "illegals", even Islamism all very pertinent issues but hardly at the fulcrum of America's budgetary woes.  And out of wedlock births?  I suppose one could make a moral argument, perhaps even an economic argument, but again to me a path that doesn't lead us anywhere.