Expert: Spending cuts to have biggest affect
We’re getting closer and closer to going over the fiscal cliff. The word from Washington on Monday was that talks aimed at avoiding the fiscal cliff are at a stalemate. Time is running out.
So how will going over the cliff affect the economy here in Texas? Economist Ray Perryman told KTRH certain industries would take a major hit.
“If we indeed went over the cliff it would have a pretty significant impact. Obviously Texas is a large defense contractor and there would be a number of contracts potentially at issue there,” Perryman said.
Perryman says there is a chance Texas could be impacted more than other states because of hits the defense industry would take.
“We do have more defense contracts than a lot of states. That’s one area that’s particularly vulnerable in the fiscal cliff. It could be on the spending side that we get hit harder than other states,” Perryman explained.
Perryman indicated to KTRH that the hit the oil and gas industry would take here in Texas would not be as significant as the one the defense industry might be faced with.
And, at 6.8%, Perryman does not think we will see the unemployment raise go up significantly as a result of going over the fiscal cliff.
Conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist has been in the middle of the fiscal cliff debate because of his ‘Taxpayer Protection Pledge,’ which prior to the November 2012 election was signed by 95% of all Republican Members of Congress. He told Matt Patrick on The 9-5-0 he isn't sure there's a way to stop the country from going over the cliff.
“I hope that we will avoid the fiscal cliff. I fear that Obama has made a political decision to push us over the cliff believing that he can blame other people,” Norquist said.
Norquist also told Patrick going over the cliff could lead to a comeback for the Tea Party.
“This is going to be three times more powerful a Tea Party because it’s the regulatory explosion, which hadn’t happened four years ago,” Norquist explained.
