The End (Of the Fiscal Cliff) Is Near

Said the President: "Well, We are possibly
Confounding the ominous prophecy.
If I may be concise,
We differ on price,
And not fundamental philosophy."

Reports are that President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner are close to a deal that may avert the "fiscal cliff." The New York Times reports that the President has offered a deal that would raise revenues by $1.2 trillion over the next decade but keep in place the Bush-era tax rates for any household with earnings below $400,000. This offer is not very far from that which the Speaker proposed on Friday, suggesting that the two sides are dickering on price rather than looking out over an unbridgable gulf.

At this rate, a solution to the Federal deficit standoff may be found before the December 21 end of the world predicted by the Mayan calendar.