William G. Gale

If we do go over the cliff, lawmakers will be on a budget path that deals with the deficit quite well over the medium term and the long term. Going over the fiscal cliff does the dirty work that Congress has so far been unwilling to do. [But] there are problems with going over the fiscal cliff, and I don't want to minimize them. [The economy] would take a hit, and I think we should enact a stimulus package to avoid that.

The fact that going over the fiscal cliff would hurt the economy in the short run is, to me, basically saying stimulus would help the economy in the short run. The whole debate over whether the stimulus is a good idea is answered by those who say going over the fiscal cliff is a bad idea.