After a ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, what next?

View Photo Gallery — ‘Fiscal cliff’ gridlock in Washington: Talks to resolve the crisis continued Monday, but House leaders said they will hold no votes on Monday night, ensuring that no deal will pass before the end-of-year deadline.

By Rosalind S. Helderman, Published: December 31 | Updated: Wednesday, January 2, 1:16 PM

The “fiscal cliff” was designed by Washington for Washington — it was intended to set up a scenario so severe that the president and Congress would, at last, have to take on the nation’s major tax and spending problems. Instead, lawmakers again found a way to sidestep many of the prickliest issues and in the process set up other, potentially more severe, showdowns in the new year.

The Senate approved a deal with the White House early Tuesday morning that would spare the middle class from an income tax increase, extending tax breaks first enacted under President George W. Bush for individuals making less than $400,000 and couples making less than $450,000.

It would also delay for two months the deep automatic spending cuts that were set to hit the military and domestic programs Wednesday. Continue reading

After a ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, what next?

By Rosalind S. Helderman, Published: December 31 | Updated: Wednesday, January 2, 1:16 PM

Share this:

Like this: