Fiscal Cliff Talks Have Californians Nervous

December 18, 2012

President Barack Obama and Republican leaders in Congress are engaged in talks to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff" -- major spending cuts and tax hikes that will go into effect in January, if an agreement on reducing the federal government's debt is not reached by the end of the year.

Medical patient Robbie Reynolds relies on a community clinic for her health care. “I don't think I would have made it without them, all the years that I've been coming here, because there were times that I just needed urgent care,” Reynolds explained.

This health center is called T. H. E. Clinic -- the letters stand for “To Help Everyone” -- and it relies in part on federal government funding.

Clinic president Rise Phillips says the facility's work could be threatened if the president and Congress fail to reach an agreement. “I'm most concerned that the fiscal cliff, if it actually happens, that there are $167 million in cuts that potentially impact clinics like mine,” he asserted.

California is a center for government research, like at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the U.S. unmanned space program is based as well as at facilities such as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco, and at the 10-campus University of California system.

It is estimated that the state would lose more than $11 billion over five years in automatic spending cuts for defense, energy and space research, causing job losses that would ripple throughout the state.