An Explanation of the Fiscal Cliff that’s so Simple Even Republicans Can Get It

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:55 am

Sixth grader Noah Williams-Morrill has earned himself a meeting with President Obama today with a video explanation of the fiscal cliff that’s so simple even Republicans can get it.

Here is a sixth grader explaining the fiscal cliff in just 60 seconds:

Noah’s explanation was simple, “The fiscal cliff means at the beginning of the year the government won’t have enough money to pay for these things. Do you care about education? If the government doesn’t have enough money, over the cliff. Medicaid for nursing homes, healthcare for kids, Sesame Street, tax breaks for middle class taxpayers, spending for our roads and bridges, protecting clean water and clean air. This doesn’t have to happen. We can make sure we have enough money for all these things. The biggest thing we can do is raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans by only 4.6%.”

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Mike Morrill of Keystone Progress announced via press release that the sixth grader is going to get to meet the president today, “Immediately following President Obama’s visit at 12:00 Noon to the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, Noah and two other young people, who are part of a nationwide community movement to urge Congress to restore tax fairness, will discuss their meeting with President Obama earlier in the day.”

House Republicans are gambling that the American people will blame President Obama if they refuse to raise taxes, and let the country go over the cliff. This is a tactic that they have tried many times before. House Republicans had to cave on the payroll tax extension at this same time last year, when it became obvious to them that the nation was not going to blame Obama. Having learned nothing from their year of failed bullying since, these same ideologues are once again resorting to their go to move of just saying no.

Congressional Republicans seem completely oblivious to the fact that Obama owns the bipartisanship message. He has successfully beaten that drum for more than four years now. This president was reelected in part, because voters saw him as the candidate most likely to cooperate with the other side. If the nation goes off the fiscal cliff, the court of public opinion will not convict President Obama.

If you know anyone who doesn’t get why the fiscal cliff is so important, share this video with them. Noah Williams-Morrill has made it so simple that even Fox News watching ideologues can get understand it. Of course, if Fox News viewers watch the the video, they are likely to come away from it calling Noah a socialist and a victim of Obama’s plot to indoctrinate our youth.

But we’ve all got to start somewhere, right?

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association