“It’s not me being stubborn; it’s not me being partisan. It’s just a matter of math.” — President Obama, in an interview with Bloomberg, hardening his position that he’ll accept no fiscal cliff deal without an increase in tax rates on the wealthy. What the President doesn’t understand, though, is that the Republicans are anti-math.
While everyone in the media, and the Republicans are hyper ventiliating about the Fiscal Cliff, er ah Slope, Wall Street is not worried. The Washington Post notes that in Washington, “debate over the ‘fiscal cliff’ is cloaked in apocalyptic warnings of soaring tax rates and a crashing economy. On Wall Street, the tone is different: All will be fine.”
“The stock market has been little changed in the past three weeks, with few wild swings. That comes despite the Jan. 1 deadline when tax hikes and spending cuts are to go into effect unless politicians reach a deal to avert them.”
This is because, if we are really worried about debt and deficit and credit ratings, which Wall Street ostensibly is, then there is no better deal on the table than going over the fiscal cliff.