For the past
several weeks, clusters of citizens have been protesting the opportunistically
named "fiscal cliff" budget cut talks.
Even though the
"fiscal cliff" is really more of a fiscal curb or fiscal slope, conservative
lawmakers have seized upon the media-generated panic surrounding the doomsday
January 1 cutoff date as an excuse to inflict further cuts and steer the
conversation away from ending tax breaks for the one
percent.
"The January 1st deadline for this fiscal
cliff, we have to remember that it is not technically a deadline because the
effects won't be felt for months afterwards. So this really is a panic inspired
by Conservatives and driven more by the media," Kate Hayden, a research
associate at Council on Hemispheric Affairs told Press TV's U.S. Desk in a phone
interview on Tuesday.
She added, "But these protests/protesters are absolutely right to demand better conditions than bureaucratic measures that only serve to promulgate this notion of trickledown economics. But the question really is going to become the level of optimism concerning a tangible response to this or conversely if it is going to just be more of the same coming from Capitol Hill."
AN/SM