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Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Remain Stalled

By: Matt Laslo // December 9, 2012
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Lawmakers have until Dec. 31 to work out a deal on the fiscal cliff.
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Lawmakers have until Dec. 31 to work out a deal on the fiscal cliff.

The country is about three weeks away from potentially dipping into another recession when deep spending cuts are scheduled to mix with a tax hike on people's personal income.

President Obama and Republican leaders remain far apart on how to work out a solution. The President continues to call for ending tax breaks for high-income earners, but Republicans want to find revenue through overhauling the tax code.

Virginia Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly says there isn't enough time to tweak the tax code.

"The idea of tax reform being done any time soon is a false hope," he says. "It's much more complicated than that. And the minute you talk tax reform specifics, you get into very popular deductions that a broad segment of the public will not support eliminating, so we need to fix this now."

Lawmakers have until Dec. 31 to work out a deal, or economists worry the fragile U.S. economy could take a hit.

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