Wild Cards, Logic and the Fiscal Cliff: A Summer Slump Would Shape Election - WSJ.com

A Summer Slump Would Shape Election - WSJ.com


The fiscal cliff noted in the article is clearly part of the picture.

In Europe, the cliff is shown in the fact that the banks have bought all this sovereign debt which has less and less value (rates going up); no one is saving because rates and returns on saving are non-existent; as taxes go up there is less many for consumers and what they buy costs more; etc.

As a result, the banks really don't have money to lend.

Obama and the Senate Democrats think 'tax fairness' is an appealing slogan and so show the polls (60% per Bloomberg this am). But what's fair about 1% of taxpayers footing more than 50% of the tax bill? (How many people might order dessert at a meal if they knew someone else was picking up the tab - or, maybe a better bottle of wine?)

Socialists don't say "you go your way, we'll go ours" because they know they can't go 'their' way without 'your money'. With 42 cents out of every federal dollar spent being borrowed and dithering about everything (like Simpson Bowles) except politics (tax fairness), either a recession or reworked numbers are almost surely in the cards. The low natural gas prices are a wildcard but then again, their are lots of wild cards.