The Fiscal Cliff's Blow on Local Economies
By: Dana Chicklas
Updated: December 30, 2012
"We cannot let Washington politics get in the way of America's progress," says President Obama.
Small business owners say this inaction has trickled anticipation for hiked taxes into the local economies.
"Oh my gosh, all the new taxes, it just feels unreal sometimes, it feels like we're in a boxing match, we're just getting slugged and then here comes this new one, bam," says Richard Herzog, partial owner of Chic's Seafood in Hagerstown.
Herzog and his family have worked hard to provide fresh seafood and run their restaurant in Hagerstown for thirty years. He says business has leveled off after dropped numbers since the 2007 recession, but it's a sign of the times that his customers are buying more dinners on credit.
"If I put an extra crab, or an extra oyster or shrimp on their plate, I know what they're going through. I know that everybody's struggling a little bit," adds Herzog.
Washington continues to fumble over part of the President's proposal to increase taxes on those making more than $250,000.
"The President's proposal to raise taxes on the top two percent of Americans won't even pay one-third of the annual interest that's now owed on this massive $16 trillion debt," says U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, (R - MO).
Herzog says although this decision is out of his control, he and his customers are going to cut coupons, and watch their gas and spending.
"We're not Exxon Oil, we're just little Chic's Seafood, we're just right in our little community, right in our little tri-state area, and we make it, we make it," says Herzog.
The clock is ticking until we ring in the new year.


