Larry Sommers is in Canada, fearmongering about the "fiscal cliff"

[Canuckistanian]

It will be a catastrophe, he says and will instantly plunge both the US and Canada into recession.

Now our reactionary conservative government is having "emergency meetings" to prepare for this apparent looming disaster.

I stand with Krugman on this:

Lets' Not Make a Deal

Meanwhile, the president is in a far stronger position than in previous confrontations. I don’t place much stock in talk of “mandates,” but Mr. Obama did win re-election with a populist campaign, so he can plausibly claim that Republicans are defying the will of the American people. And he just won his big election and is, therefore, far better placed than before to weather any political blowback from economic troubles — especially when it would be so obvious that these troubles were being deliberately inflicted by the G.O.P. in a last-ditch attempt to defend the privileges of the 1 percent.

Most of all, standing up to hostage-taking is the right thing to do for the health of America’s political system.

So stand your ground, Mr. President, and don’t give in to threats. No deal is better than a bad deal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/opinion/krugman-lets-not-make-a-deal.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

[Puzzledtraveller]

1. The republicans would love for sequestration to kick in, they are tough cuts

afterall they can cakewalk the fallout for a few years and they bank on things deteriorating so bad that animosity will build towards the dems, I think it will backfire but it would suck for everyone.

[LiberalAndProud]

2. Congress holds the purse strings. Am I wrong?

Someone once explained to me that's the reason Reagan couldn't balance the budget after his tax cuts.