However, another aspect of the fiscal cliff has yet to be addressed: the nearly $1 trillion in spending cuts to defense and domestic programs. Thus, despite the progress, Congress is not yet ready to squash the potential for a fiscal cliff before the new year.
Earlier today, President Obama stated, "There are still issues left to resolve but we're hopeful Congress can get it done." However, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., disapproved of the president's words. "Well, he kind of made fun, he made a couple of jokes, laughed about how people are going to be here for New Year's...I guess I have to wonder, and I think the American people have to wonder whether the president really wants this issue resolved or is it to his short-term political benefit for us to go over the cliff?" he said.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., had a slightly different view, "Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our American economy is our American Congress," he said.
At this point, there is no telling whether Congress will sweep in with a last-minute plan or start the new year with a fiscal cliff--we will just have to wait and see as we have been all along. Hopefully, though, this issue will soon be resolved; after all of the negotiations and coverage, I'm sure that everyone is starting to tire of the fiscal cliff. In fact, according to this article (and the graph pasted below), 27.8% of voters want to ban the phrase.
Which word or phrase would you most like to see banned? (from NBC news)
Total of 7,623 votes - click on the "Display Comments" bar below to sort comments
| YOLO |
30.4%
(2,318 votes)
|
| Fiscal cliff |
27.8%
(2,120 votes)
|
| Job creators/creation |
12.1%
(919 votes)
|
| Trending |
8.2%
(627 votes)
|
| Bucket list |
4.9%
(373 votes)
|
| Kick the can down the road |
3.6%
(278 votes)
|
| Superfood |
3%
(229 votes)
|
| Double down |
3%
(225 votes)
|
| Boneless wings |
2.3%
(173 votes)
|
| Guru |
1.8%
(141 votes)
|
| Passion/passionate |
1.8%
(136 votes)
|
| Spoiler alert |
1.1%
(84 votes
|
1 comment:
It is disheartening that our Congress has not fully risen to the challenge of the fiscal cliff, however, it seems like we were not exactly setting high expectations with all the talk of political partisanship that has been going on forever.
I like the fact that progress has been made on the tax reform. It seems like a step in the right direction with the middle class staying relatively secure and potentially reaping some benefits with the changes to the AMT. Spending cuts to Medicare seem to have been avoided. I wonder how spending cuts to other programs will turn out.
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