S&P says U.S. to avoid "fiscal cliff," risks remain

Standard & Poor's said on Friday it expects U.S. lawmakers to set aside their differences to prevent a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts from hurting the economy in early 2013. The rating agency ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Friday it expects U.S.

Standard & Poor's said on Friday it expects U.S. lawmakers to set aside their differences to prevent a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts from hurting the economy in early 2013. The rating agency ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Friday it expects U.S.

One thing sure to raise my ire is a group of mindless hypocrites who say one thing and do another, while pretending they have a clue. In this case I am talking about the IMF. As part of the Troika, the IMF helped ruin Greece. The country is now in a never ending depression with the youth jobless rate at 58 percent, and overall unemployment at 25.4%. Every step of the way the IMF demanded more austerity measures, as did the ECB, EU, and Germany.

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU – President Barack Obama is due back in Washington early Thursday for a final effort to negotiate a deal with Congress to avert or at least postpone the “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and government spending cuts set to begin next week. No specific bill dealing with the cliff was on the schedule of either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, which are expected to return on Thursday after the holiday break. Investors are closely watching the talks, concerned that going over the cliff could throw the economy into recession.

OTTAWA – Canada welcomed Washington’s last-minute deal on the fiscal cliff on Wednesday, but warned that significant risks remained and urged more action to put the U.S. fiscal situation on a sustainable path. “Canada welcomes the agreement reached between the (U.S. President Barack Obama) and the Congress that protects the U.S. economy in the short term,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement.

A deal worked out by U.S. Senate leaders to avoid the "fiscal cliff," was far from any "grand bargain" of deficit reduction measures. But if approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, it could help the country steer clear of recession, although enough austerity would remain in place to likely keep the economy growing at a lackluster pace.