It is just me, or does it seem like we are going to have a huge deficit battle this year?

Water Cooler
#1

So basically, Congress passed a big extension of tax cuts - or rather, they decreased the tax cuts that would have happened from the fiscal cliff. But they have not done anything to reduce spending! US hit the debt limit on 1/1/2013 - Geithner is financing the next 2 months through “extraordinary measures”. In 2 months, Congress must vote to extend the debt ceiling, or US will default on debt.

Wait… Isn’t this what happened in 2012? The debt limit was the reason that the “fiscal cliff” was implemented in the first place! S&P downgraded US debt specifically for this reason. In 2 months, there will be a big fight between Democrats, who want to increase debt, and Republicans, who would rather decrease spending. Neither side will have the “middle class” taxes as leverage, now that the tax policy has been set.

It seems like people have been distracted by the fiscal cliff itself and have forgotten about the root of the problem.

#2

shhhhhh…

#3

There seems to be more of a “We begrudgingly solved a huge issue” attitude, than the reality of “We spent weeks and our final solution was to move the problem 2 months out”.

#4

Yes, we’ll have another pointlessly dramatic debate, that’s only going to give short term bullish/bearish signals to people who are daytrading the markets, or who are long volatility.

#5

Can California’s solution be applied to whole of US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20797188

But, I now know why graduate courses are more expensive in California than other states