Going over the “fiscal cliff” would have had the attraction of seriously cutting government spending, although the composition of the cuts – nothing from entitlements and too much from defense – was unattractive. The associated revenue increase was, at least, across the board, rather than the unbalanced hike in marginal tax rates at the top that was enacted.
共和党应该在评估2013年税收和支出变化时考虑这些观点。迈向“财政悬崖”本应具有大量削减政府开支的吸引力，尽管如何削减——福利项目一分不减而防务支出削减太多——并不具有吸引力。相应的税收收入增加倒至少是全面的，而非仅仅是已经实施的顶层边际税率的不均衡增加。