An at-the-wire deal that held the government at the brink of the "fiscal cliff" will hike taxes for some small construction firms and give companies a short reprieve from mandatory spending cuts slated to hit most federal construction accounts on Jan. 2. All in all, the tax increases would have been much steeper and more widespread and the budget cuts immediate if there had been no deal.
But the product of the agreement, the American Taxpayers Relief Act, which Congress approved Jan. 1 and President Obama signed the next day, is only a short-term fix. New fiscal deadlines and more partisan fights are just weeks ahead.