As far as I know, there was never any economic justification for the Bush tax cuts to begin with, and even those who advocated them used the fact that they were temporary as a fig leaf for passing them. That's true of any tax bracket involved, but for the rich it was especially obvious that those cuts were and have continued to be acutely harmful to the economy. So what the hell is this "fiscal cliff" gibberish Republicans are spouting and Democrats in Washington are going along with in some misguided attempt to use the GOP's hyperbole against it?
The expiration of those cuts is simply a return to the normal state of fiscal affairs prior to the second takeover of government by radical right-wing extremists under Bush, and doesn't even make a dent in the cuts made by the first right-wing radical takeover under Reagan. So the GOP's whining about it is just their usual corrupt WATB bullshit, and there is no way in hell that "compromise" with them is called for: No way in hell that people's right to Social Security and Medicare has to be trimmed to pay for the expiration of tax cuts that should never have happened in the first place. In fact, no way that any budget cuts should attend this change in the fiscal picture.
We've been cutting and gutting budgets on an almost continuous basis since Ronald Reagan, so there is no "fat" left to trim, period - just the muscle and bone of our economy, and frankly the vultures who were behind both Reagan's and Bush's tax cuts won't be content until they're feasting on our nation's deepest flesh. So there are some pretty solid lines carved in stone here that should not be crossed: Not one cent of additional budget cuts from here on out, and not one cent of additional tax cuts from here on out. Time for the pendulum to swing back to sanity and growth, and time for the Republican financial base to start carrying its own weight in this country.
The elimination of the Bush tax cuts - at least for the rich - must simply be the beginning of a general push toward restoration of the fair, progressive tax system that built modern America and made us into the nation that achieved so many of the greatest and hardest things of the 20th century. We must say "No" to the stagnation, degeneracy, corruption, crime, homelessness, ignorance, moral decay, and ever-eroding expectations and budgets of the economies created by Reaganist and Bushist policies. Never again must it be acceptable to say "We don't have the money" for schools and healthcare - if something is a good idea justified by objective evidence, then it's a good idea to generate the money by raising taxes rather than just ignoring the need/opportunity the way Republicans do or just engaging in endless borrowing to avoid the controversy of tax issues that way Democrats generally have.
The wealthiest Americans have been coddled beyond all reason and decency, and virtually nothing asked of them in return over the past few decades. Now the bill is due, and some of us who aren't wealthy should not balk if we too are asked to pay a little more so long as those at the top are asked to pay a lot more. Time to end the deranged culture of anti-tax psychosis that Republicans have created in this country on behalf of their owner/masters. Our roads should be even and well-maintained throughout America, our schools safe and creative places of learning throughout America, our hospitals safe, well-staffed, competently-managed, and providing thorough and timely care throughout America to all people. That's it. There's no second opinion on this. Anyone who doesn't want this or isn't willing to pay taxes for it is simply not American, and should not be allowed to stand in the way of a society they profit from.