What's Next for Fiscal Cliff Deal Talks?
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 12:45 PM EST
After a lot of talk from Washington this week, we could actually be farther away from a fiscal cliff deal than we were before. Republican House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B," created to avert a tumble over the fiscal cliff, failed to garner enough support Thursday night from his own party. Boehner said before the voting that he was confident his Plan B, which proposed extending the Bush era tax cuts, would sail through. But around 8 p.m., House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-VA, emerged and announced the measure wouldn't go up for a vote. This left the country asking, "What's next for the fiscal cliff?" Boehner later said in a statement, "The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. Now it is up to the president to work with Senator (Harry) Reid to avert the fiscal cliff." Equity markets reacted by tumbling on the open Friday. A majority of market participants had been optimistic until now, hopeful that a fiscal cliff deal would be reached and a recession in 2013 avoided. But just 10 days remain before America faces the largest tax increase in history, coupled with steep automatic spending cuts , the outlook for next year has dimmed. With Congress on recess for the Christmas holiday and no fiscal cliff deal in sight, investors are worried and rightly so. To continue reading, please click here...