Reporters who focus on the federal budget discussed how they are covering the so-called "fiscally cliff," the term coined to describe the tax increases and budget cuts that will take effect in January unless Congress acts to stop them.
In a panel moderated by Martin Kady, a Congressional editor at Politico, four reporters spoke about their coverage of the cliff up to this point, and how they will focus their coverage as the cliff approaches.
The "fiscally cliff" as it has been called by budget analysts is actually two separate policy events that are scheduled to happen at the same time. First, the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire, effectively raising taxes on all families. Second, as a result of the budget control act of last year, massive mandatory budget cuts will take effect in January unless Congress comes up with an alternate plan to reduce the deficit and cut spending.
Two reporters from Congressional Quarterly, Kerry Dooley Young, who reports on appropriations and budget, and Frank Oliveri, who reports on defense policy, joined the Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy and Bloomberg News' federal tax policy reporter Richard Rubin for the discussion.