fiscal cliff

On Friday afternoon, seven middle-class Americans with a personal stake in Washington's "fiscal cliff" debate sat down with the Vice President at the Metro 29 Diner in Arlington, Virginia. Should Congress fail to extend tax cuts for middle-class families by the end of this year, a typical American household's taxes would go up by over $2,000.

Vice President Joe Biden visits the grand opening of a Costco store in Washington D.C., where he was able to shop for some gifts, talk to shoppers and speak on the need for congress to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans.

Acclaimed author, Berkeley professor, and Clinton-era Secretary of Labor Robert Reich lays out the what, why and how of the Fiscal "Cliff", the showdown in Congress that Republicans created to demand painful cuts in vital domestic programs in exchange for raising taxes on the top 2%. Learn the facts, and the best way out of this forced showdown.

"Highly-paid CEO's are in town to tell America how to avoid the 'fiscal cliff.'

President Obama holds a press conference in the East Room of the White House. November 14, 2012.

The so-called "fiscal cliff" refers to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on December 31, 2012, along with a series of spending cuts that will be triggered on that same date. It is called a cliff because the change will not be gradual, but steep and dramatic.