Don’t Fear the Fiscal Cliff

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By now, many people have heard about the fiscal cliff. That's what we're all going over if Congress can't strike a budget deal by the end of the year. It means tax cuts would expire, federal jobs would be cut, and government programs would be axed. Still, CU Boulder's Scott Adler says it's not as dire as it sounds. The political scientist has written a new book called "Congress and the Politics of Problem-Solving." He tells CPR's Zac Barr that Congress works well under pressure and that it needs a crisis in order to get its work done. Then, we ask people what picture they have in their mind when they imagine the fiscal cliff.

[Photo: J. Stephen Conn]