No one ever said being President of the United States was an easy job, and that has certainly been the case for the newly re-elected, President Obama. After a bitterly fought re-election over Republican nominee, Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney, he was literally back to work the next day, beginning the negotiating to avert the Fiscal Cliff.
As I wrote in my article for ESSA’s Equilibrium about this topic, the Fiscal Cliff will involve the expiration of numerous tax cuts, unemployment benefits and across-the-board discretionary spending cuts; a scenario many economists fear will significantly inhibit economic growth in 2013, the exact opposite of what the American economy needs as it slowly emerges out of a sluggish economy recovery and into a more sustained period of economic growth.
The future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (oft-dubbed Obamacare), President Obama’s signature policy reform of his first term, is in the balance. After a week of oral arguments before the Supreme Court, between the Administration’s lawyers and those representing the twenty-six states, and the National Federation of Independent Business challenging the law’s constitutionality, the emerging consensus is that parts of the legislation, in particular the controversial individual mandate, may be struck down by the highest judicial body.
