What so many here won't tell you is that it is true. The tax increases will suck a lot of money out of the economy but "a lot" is a subjective term. It will only run the country for about eight days but cost the country upwards of a million jobs. I do want you to take note of some of this comments. Notice how they are all about we need tax increases, or these only affect the rich (affluent), only the rich will pay more. Do you see that not one of these people are talking about cutting spending? Twice in my lifetime the democrats have gone to a republican president and promised (cross my heart and hope to die) to cut spending more than any tax increase. They lied both times and they are lying again. There should be no tax increases until major cuts are enacted. Not promised, but enacted and structured so they can't be changed back. The democratic party has no credibility when it comes to spending cuts.
Here is something else to think about, if the government took ALL of the money from the rich and middle class (all means they can only do this once) it would only run the country for about 10 months. Remember, it can only be done one time and then anyone of any consequence would be broke.