Jay Carney led the daily White House briefing, which was focused mainly on the “fiscal cliff” and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice. Mr. Carney announced that President Obama woud meet with middle class Americans in Pennsylvania later in the week to talk about the fiscal cliff, taxes and the deficit.
“Fiscal cliff” referred to the impending tax increases and sequestration budget cuts at the end of 2012 if Congress failed to reach a new budget agreement.*"Sequestration," a legal procedure in which automatic budget cuts are triggered, was part of the Budget Control Act of 2011