Dan Carlin does a great job of laying out exactly what the fiscal cliff is and why it was implemented. He also accurately describes the state of the union and the challenges America faces and does so in a practical non partisan way. He even proposes a few solutions that while painful would actually go a long way towards making a dent in the national debt. There is no way in hell they will ever be implemented though.

Give it a listen.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/cs...f-deficit-debt