'fiscal cliff'=gutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/6-reasons-fiscal-cliff-scam?akid=9711.1084699.GCdckT&rd=1&src=newsletter748976&t=5&paging=off

6 Reasons the Fiscal Cliff is a Scam

The so-called "fiscal cliff" is a mechanism for rolling back Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

"...policy-making by hostage-taking, timed for the lame duck session, a contrived crisis, the plain idea now unfolding was to force a stampede. "