In his weekly legislative briefing with the press Speaker John Boehner responded to President Obama’s speech at a toy factory in Pennsylvania earlier in the day about the economy and “fiscal cliff” negotiations. 
“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 agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011.