Congress debates Taxmageddon [View all]
Five and half months before the deadline for potential disaster, Congress broke into heated debate this week over a January fiscal meltdown that could lead to nearly $600 billion worth of tax hikes and automatic federal spending cuts next year.
The skirmishes included hours of floor speeches in the Senate and a House vote on related legislation Wednesday. Most unusual was the relatively long lead time of the debate, since this Congress has shown repeatedly its eagerness to avoid serious debate except as a last resort, when a deadline and calamity are close at hand.
Not even the most hopeful players expect the tax-and-spending issue to be resolved until after the November elections. But this week’s tit-for-tat served to set the terms of the debate for the fall elections in both the presidential and congressional campaigns.
Full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/debate-on-year-end-fiscal-issues-sets-stage-for-fall-showdowns/2012/07/19/gJQA0u6pwW_story.html
Thom Hartmann debated a Heritage Foundation scholar about "Taxmageddon" in April:
= new reply since forum marked as read