An ominous tone set by the fiscal cliff that has grown louder since Election Day is the primary excuse behind the recent declines endured by dividend ETFs. Popular multi-sector dividend ETFs focused on U.S. equities have been hammered in the past week. Since November 7 the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSE: VIG [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]) the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSE: SDY) and the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (NYSE: HDV) have lost an average of 4.2 percent. Things are worse for some so-called dividend sectors funds such as those tracking telecommunications and utilities names. As one example ...