America On The Edge Of A 'fiscal Cliff'? No, It's The Right Peddling Scare Stories

guardian.co.uk — The morning after Barack Obama's re-election, panic broke out. Radio 4 described financial markets slumping on worries over something called a "fiscal cliff". The clock is ticking, apparently. Obama has until New Year's Eve in which to strike a deal with the Republicans – otherwise nearly 50 tax cuts will expire and the defense department alone will get slapped with $1.2 trillion in cuts. Unless the Democrats give the Republicans what they want in the form of further tax giveaways for the richest, the senator Mitch McConnell and his right-wing allies will block any attempt to extend borrowing – with disastrous economic consequences. It sounds like a budgetary version of the film Speed; but this is the fiscal cliff Washington is driving off. And the result will be another recession and soaring unemployment. There is just one problem with this version of events: it's exaggerated. Distorted. More spiced-up than a bargain balti.

more »