Whew. Missed the fiscal cliff. Sorry about the "rich"

OK. No tax hikes for people making $400K individually, or $450K as a family. 

Whew. I was really sweating that. I came THIS close -- a mere 700 percent raise away! Thank goodness there have been no raises at work for several years. I applaud the fiscal insight corporately applied. I do. Honestly.

Well, fine. Not honestly. Sarcasm, dripping and rolling down the chin sarcasm there.

It is good to be employed at all. That is seriously true. I remind myself of that, because so many in my industry no longer have jobs.

They are struggling to survive, while I can whine about years of inflation, price hikes, etc., having shrunk the real dollar value of take home pay by 12 percent or more (not to mention gasoline prices nearly tripled in the past five years, and health insurance premiums more than doubled).

So, dead seriously, I can't feel too much angst for those folks who may have to hold off on that third or fourth car in the garage to pay what they paid when Clinton was president.

Not that taxing the rich does anything to alleviate the fiscal mess our nation has created with waste, fraud, bloated social welfare programs far extended in purpose beyond their original intent, and skyrocketing debt. 

We have to arrive at the point where we realize our government cannot be the nanny for everyone who fails, or in some cases don't even try. We have to allow some consequence for failure. The idea of those who refuse to work, if they are physically able, to avoid the results via the public dole has to be rethought. 

And if Americans are living longer, their work years extended along with their life spans, then does it make sense to have Social Security retirement kick in at an age (65) that was just a few years shy of life expectancy in the 1930s . . . but now is 15-30 years out?

Do we continue to bail out banks and investment firms that game the system, giving millions in bonuses to CEOs who FAIL? Do we continue to borrow to underwrite decades of warfare that extend far beyond their initial, specific goals?