21 Dec 2012

Posted at 13:21h in The Friday Brief by
What's it gonna be fellas? Or a more reasoned approach? It’s back to the playbook now that House Speaker John Boehner has scrapped his own Plan B. He said he couldn’t muster enough Republicans in his caucus willing to vote for a tax increase – even though it would impact fewer than 1% of Americans. It is also quite likely that those Republicans didn’t see enough spending cuts coming from the White House to agree to a Plan B.

14 Dec 2012

Posted at 14:04h in The Friday Brief by
The US economy likely slowed substantially in this current quarter under the weight of political uncertainty. The best clue comes from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who said, “Clearly the fiscal cliff is having effects on the economy," he said, referring to the combination of expiring tax cuts and scheduled spending cuts set to begin early next month. "This is a major risk factor right now.”

07 Dec 2012

Posted at 09:57h in The Friday Brief by
President Obama and Speaker Boehner are back behind closed doors after a week of posturing that moved slightly in the president’s favor toward higher taxes. While the president uses every tool he’s got to pound his tax hike position, Republicans try to hold their coalition together while negotiating publically, so far unsuccessfully, with the White House. However, regardless of some openings in Republican ranks, compromise on a cliff-avoiding measure remains a long-shot with strong ideological anchors firmly set on both sides.