Fiscal cliff

Part of the New Year countdown fun this year was amplified by the potential for fiscal calamity as we got closer and closer to Jan. 1 — much more exciting than the fictive Mayan Calendar watch.

Only Congress could pass a law creating a deadline to try to force themselves to act and then run headlong into the deadline like a crash dummy. You should look to Congress as an excellent example of how NOT to do your New Year’s resolutions.

The 112th Congress that just wrapped up the fiscal follies was one of the least productive Congresses ever.

OGDEN — Utah’s House delegation voted 3-0 Tuesday against the Senate bill that prevented the nation from going over the fiscal cliff.

Utah Congressmen Rob Bishop, Jason Chaffetz and Jim Matheson all cast dissenting votes on the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, all citing overspending issues as the reason for their nay votes.

The bill was ultimately passed by a 257-167 vote.

WASHINGTON -- Legislation to negate a fiscal cliff of across-the-board tax increases and sweeping spending cuts to the Pentagon and other government agencies is headed to the GOP-dominated House after bipartisan, middle-of-the-night approval in the Senate capped a New Year's Eve drama unlike any other in the annals of Congress.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is preparing to notify its 800,000 civilian employees that some of them may have to take unpaid leave next year if lawmakers can’t agree on a budget deal, according to a U.S. defense official.

While the notification would go out to all the Pentagon’s civilian workers, only a portion of them would be likely to face eventual furloughs under the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel plans.