A new buzz word.
Interesting point that it's a 'lose-lose' situation.
Kick the can, get downgraded but avoid a certain recession. Implement the cliff and a recession and as you note gov spending is indeed a large portion of GDP.
Sorry, I just regurgitated your post - but why can't the mainstream media ever say what you say, so succinctly? B/c they suck.
They are making this out to be another football game that is close and they need to attract an audience.