Fiscal Cliff, Most Under Reported Story of the Year

[ClydeR]

I call it the “dual-trigger nightmare.” Hill staff call it “taxmageddon.” Ben Bernanke calls it “the fiscal cliff.” Whatever you call it, at the end of 2012, we’re scheduled to see $7.5 trillion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts happen automatically. That would, on the one hand, solve our deficit problem. It would also trash our recovery. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (http://crfb.org/document/between-mountain-debt-and-fiscal-cliff-finding-smart-path-forward) has a nice paper previewing the choices Congress is about to face, and it includes this table, which breaks “taxmageddon” — or whatever you want to call it -- into its component parts.

More... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/taxmageddon-in-one-table/2012/03/30/gIQA1GkElS_blog.html)

More articles..

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577309203491177784.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304459804577281233569546496.html?m od=WSJ_WSJ_News_BlogsModule

It will surely be a big issue in the election as we approach the fall. The tax increases include expiration of the Bush tax cuts, including those for capital gains and dividends, and expiration of the partial payroll tax holiday. The spending cuts include a lot of cuts to defense, and that's one thing we sure do not want to cut.

Looks like a job for the lame duck Congress in late December. :)

[ClydeR]

Is this Portman's way of taking himself our of the running for VP?


Ohio Senator Rob Portman — a former top Bush economic official seen as a contender for the vice presidential nomination — is calling on both President Barack Obama and his ally Mitt Romney to detail their plans for taxing and spending before a presidential election that will be followed immediately by big choices about the size and scope of American government.

Portman said in an interview with BuzzFeed that both Obama and Romney face the risk of a fiscal “train wreck” at the end of this year, and said they need to answer a straightforward question before the election: “What's your plan?”

“I count actually a dozen things and a lot of them are tough issues that have been kicked down the road that have to be dealt with in about six weeks after the election,” Portman said.

Portman’s blunt warning marks an election with about a dozen major issues looming, a scenario referred to by alarmed policy wonks alternately as “the fiscal cliff” or “taxmageddon.”

Lawmakers will have to decide how to extend the Bush Tax Cuts (on everyone, or just middle and low incomes); whether to roll back the “sequester” penalty brought about by the failed “super committee” that would impose cuts on Department of Defense; and whether maintain the payroll tax cut which the administration says has helped create over 500,000 jobs. They also need to raise the debt ceiling to avoid default and paying for it to meet Republican demands; to “fix” Medicare payouts so doctors don’t see sharp reductions in what they get for treating older patients; decide whether or not to extend long-term unemployment insurance; and to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax to prevent it from hitting six times as many taxpayers.

More... (http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/portman-wants-policy-details-from-romney-obama)