See what your paycheck will look like before and after the fiscal cliff

It bothers me that this is being called "the fiscal cliff." Language matters, and I hope I'm not being a conspiracy theorist when I wonder if this term was propagated specifically to scare people.<p>The positive aspect of the fiscal cliff is getting no air time. From Wikipedia: "The deficit for 2013 is projected to be reduced by roughly half, with the cumulative deficit over the next ten years to be lowered by as much as $7.1 trillion or about 70%."

I like this a lot, it is a really nice way of seeing the data. I would also be interested to see:<p>- A version with the income on a logarithmic scale to make it extend past $300k in a sensible way. (Not because I need it, I just want to know how the changes affect taxes in the higher ranges).<p>- A plot of % increase in taxes vs. income. There are some poor sods on the left hand side of the graph who seem to be getting an almost 50% tax increase. Is that really true?

Not taking into account the standard deduction. This is especially evident in the lowest income totals.

I wish it would break down the added tax based on the following scenarios:<p>1) Cliff jumped off with a parachute - middle-class cuts preserved 2) Stephan Feck'd - no agreement = full increase<p>Also does reflect the cap gains tax increase (15% vs, 25%) which, for entrepreneurs seems more relevant?<p>Finally there is a much bigger impact to government spending and jobs as the budget cuts would cause furloghs or layoffs until the budget is restored (if at all).<p>Thanks, recalcitrant GOP, for your willingness to take the nation hostage for your idealism!

Doesn't work in stock, patched Safari on Lion (no extensions.) Doesn't work in Chrome on Lion, AdBlock Plus and Ghostery. Doesn't work in stock, patched IE7 on XP.<p><i>Does</i> work in Chrome on XP. Wish it didn't; I regret seeing the results.

Why are people calling it the "fiscal cliff"? Isn't it supposed to make the fiscal situation better?

Not to get too political on HN, but why increase taxes by nearly 3k on someone making 70k a year? Given the way the apples and googles of the world hoard money offshore, and the wealthiest people in the country sitting on billions of dollars (rightfully earned or not) it seems to me like it would make more sense to make them bear a little more of the burden.<p>For example, if you make 300k your taxes are going up only 11%. IF you make 80k, your taxes are going up 16.5%. Just doesn't feel right.

Looking forward to this. Would rather have a small tax increase than be dealing with 100% Debt-to-GDP in 10 years.

The AMT patch is part of the "fiscal cliff." Without the patch, 35% of all taxpayers will owe AMT.