US Plunge Off 'Fiscal Cliff' Is Likely

US Plunge Off 'Fiscal Cliff' Is Likely, Say Debt Gurus Simpson And Bowles -- Christian Science Monitor

Former chairs of Obama's debt commission, Alan Simpson (R) and Erskine Bowles (D), said at the Monitor breakfast Wednesday they see just a one-third likelihood that the White House and congressional Republicans will reach a deal by year's end to avert the fiscal cliff.

Fresh from a meeting with President Obama and en route to talk with House Speaker John Boehner, the former co-chairmen of the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles debt commission say it's more likely than not that the United State will fall off the "fiscal cliff" at year's end.

There's only about a one-third possibility that Congress and the White House will reach a deal to avert some $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and mandatory spending cuts over 10 years – an outcome that would be "devastating to the economy," says Erskine Bowles, the Democratic half of the Simpson-Bowles partnership, speaking to reporters at the Monitor breakfast in Washington on Nov. 28.

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My Comment: What's my take .... they are right .... we are going to go off a cliff .... but it will not happen now. Washington cannot control it's spending, and the public that voted for this are content as long as the checks come in. My prediction .... in the next two months tax increases and cuts in the defense budget will occur, but the real problem of reigning in government spending and debt will not be addressed. In short .... America's fiscal problems will be kicked down the road to be addressed at a later time.