This afternoon, I moderated an Urban Institute panel on taxes and the fiscal cliff. The fundamental question on the table:  Will Congress have to tumble over the precipice in order to build the political consensus it needs to do a budget deal? To put it another way, will it take the fear of a financial market [...]

If Congressional gridlock sends the U.S. government tumbling over the fiscal cliff later this year, Americans could face an average tax hike of almost $3,500 in 2013. Nearly 9 of every 10 households would pay higher taxes. Every income group would see their taxes rise by at least 3.5 percent, but high-income households would suffer [...]

By now, you know the great taxmageddon story: At the end of the year, a lame duck Congress and a new or newly re-elected president will face the confluence of three extraordinary challenges—the 2001/2003/2010 tax cuts expire, the automatic spending cuts adopted in 2010 begin to bite, and the Treasury loses its ability to borrow [...]