The Bottom Line Takes A Look Back at 2012

Usually around this time, we say we wish this was the year a fiscal plan is enacted. But with the ongoing negotiations between the White House and Republicans along with the looming fiscal cliff, 2012 is not completely in the books yet.

2012 was certainly a year when our national fiscal issues came front and center. Whether it was the 330,000 citizens signing a petition to Fix the Debt, the budget being prominently featured during the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, or a number of new budget proposals and legislation that were introduced, fiscal policy was a big part of the political and policy discussion this year.

If a bipartisan debt agreement comes together before the new year, as we hope, The Bottom Line will be on the job, breaking down the details of any agreement and how it affects our debt path in the next ten years and beyond. However, our regular blogging will slow until the new year, as we focus our attention on the fiscal cliff negotiations.

Keeping with tradition, we've created a word cloud from Wordle of The Bottom Line for 2012. Among the top words were budget, tax, spending, deficit, fiscal, and cliff (no surprise). Hopefully, the words "deal" and "bipartisan" get a little bit larger in our next word cloud.

We've enjoyed participating in the conversation this year. We wish our readers a safe and happy holiday season.