OVER THE CLIFF: The dealmakers who warn that a year-end plunge off the "fiscal cliff" — the automatic increases in taxes and cuts in government spending scheduled for next year — would be disastrous don't seem to be rushing to stop it.
THE WHY: Some lawmakers argue that briefly going over the cliff is the best way to force a compromise.
THE RISK: The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the fiscal cliff policies, if left unchecked too long after the new year, would spark a recession later in 2013 and send the unemployment rate above 9 percent by fall.
