Influence Alley

Our National Journal Daily colleagues today explain how messy a temporary fix to the so-called fiscal cliff could be. 

The bet lawmakers could make is that a temporary extension of the Bush-era tax cuts and stalling federal spending cuts by three or six months could reassure the economy. 

Here's the Daily: 

But a temporary fix presents numerous logistical hurdles, particularly for the various tax provisions that are part of the cliff. Those include the expiring Bush-era income-tax rates, the payroll-tax cut, and the alternative minimum tax patch, plus a number of business tax breaks, or “extenders.”

If Congress enacts a short-term measure on these tax provisions, Treasury would face a tough decision on tax-withholding tables. It could direct the Internal Revenue Service to delay changes in those tables in anticipation of an eventual longer-term deal.

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