XPost: alt.politics.republicans, alt.politics.usa, alt.society.conservatism   
   XPost: alt.politics   
   From: m@l.mal   
      
   The Federal Reserve Board Chairman had a stern warning today for   
   Congress: "Taxmaggedon" is real, it's coming and only lawmakers can   
   save the nation from falling off this rapidly approaching "fiscal   
   cliff."   
      
   "What is particularly striking here is that this is all   
   pre-programmed," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said. "If you all go on   
   vacation, it's still going to happen, so it's important to be thinking   
   about that and working with your colleagues to see how you might   
   address that concern at the appropriate time."   
      
   Bernanke, speaking in front of the Joint Economic Committee, was   
   referring to the year-end intersection of the Bush-era tax cuts   
   expiration, $1.2 trillion in scheduled spending cuts and expiring   
   payroll tax breaks, which, if not addressed could cost American   
   taxpayers with $310 billion in tax increases next year.   
      
   The picture the Fed chairman painted today was not pretty.   
      
   "The so-called fiscal cliff would, if allowed to occur, pose a   
   significant threat to the recovery," Bernanke warned. "If no action   
   were taken and the fiscal cliff were to kick in in its full size, I   
   think it would be very likely that the economy would begin to contract   
   or possibly go even into recession, and that unemployment would begin   
   to rise."   
      
   Bernanke said that, in the short term, if all the measures would occur   
   together, it would amount to a withdrawal of spending and increase in   
   taxation of between 3 and 5 percent of the gross domestic product,   
   which would have a "very significant impact" on the near-term   
   recovery.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)