Hi gwr1,

"They are 2 separate issues but since they both deal directly with the debt they may end up combined. The fiscal cliff refers to the the deal constructed in the summer of 2011 that was crafted by Obama and Boehner and approved in the Republican controlled house of Representatives and Senate to raise the debt ceiling limit in late summer 2011. This deal mandated certain tax spending programs to expire, Bush/Obama tax cuts to end and mandated pre-determined spending cuts to existing program spending with the military spending taking a significant hit. (the sequester)"

By zeroing in on something like this, I believe it misses the big picture, and I believe that the above problem does not tell the whole story. IMHO this is just a small trip-up on the way to the real cliff.

Good Luck to all!