Between the Lines by Mark Halperin

Brian Snyder / REUTERS
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa in this January 2, 2012.

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Not likely. If Democrats do well, they will want to wait until next year to tackle the fiscal issues. And Mitt Romney has said that if he wins, he wants Congress to wait until 2013 to engineer any budgetary fix.

So what is likely to happen?

More kicking of the can. Expect more entirely avoidable anxiety and uncertainty, more legislative postponements and, if the past is any guide, additional deficit spending.