Word  coming out of Washington D.C. is that if any bill dealing with the  "fiscal cliff" hits the desk of President Barack Obama during the lame  duck session of Congress after the election which does not include a tax  increase on the "rich" will be vetoed.

As the Washington Post reports:

President  Obama is prepared to veto legislation to block year-end tax hikes and  spending cuts, collectively known as the “fiscal cliff,” unless  Republicans bow to his demand to raise tax rates for the wealthy,  administration officials said.

Freed from the political and  economic constraints that have tied his hands in the past, Obama is  ready to play hardball with Republicans, who have so far successfully  resisted a deal to tame the debt that includes higher taxes, Obama’s  allies say.

In the days after the November election, the tables  will be turned: Taxes are scheduled to rise dramatically in January for  people at all income levels, and Republicans will be unable to stop  those automatic increases alone.

If he wins reelection, Obama  may finally be able to dictate the terms of a bipartisan debt-reduction  deal. And if he loses to Republican Mitt Romney, Obama could make sure  that tax rates rise before he hands over the keys to the White House on  Inauguration Day in late January.

Administration officials declined to say whether the veto threat will stand if Obama loses the election.

Obama has never explicitly said whether he is prepared to let the new  year arrive without taking action to avoid the cliff. Some Republicans,  noting that the president has backed off demands for higher taxes twice  in the past, are skeptical that he will stand firm now. But his veto  threat challenges Republicans to a dangerous game of chicken over a  fiscal event that would raise taxes for nearly 90 percent of households,  slice deeply into military and domestic budgets, and probably spark a  brief recession.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and  other Republican leaders are already complaining about the president’s  “ ‘Thelma and Louise’ economic strategy.” (In the 1991 film, the lead  characters drive off a cliff in a 1966 Thunderbird convertible rather  than surrender to police.)

But Obama’s threat has concentrated  their attention. If the president emerges victorious on Election Day,  top GOP aides in both chambers say Republicans would press him to  abandon his quest to raise the top rates, in exchange for a more  meaningful prize — a long-sought agreement to stabilize the debt, in  part with significant new tax revenue. Virtually all Republicans have  long opposed higher taxes.

http://washingtonpost.com/business/economy/officials-obama-ready-to-veto-a-bill-blocking-fiscal-cliff-without-tax-hike-for-rich/2012/10/17/64400224-1870-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html

I reported back on July 16: Democrats Threaten to Drive Off Fiscal Cliff.  It appears from this article that the Democrats led by the President  are determined to let the American taxpayers take the plunge if their  attempts to up the tax burden on the "rich" are not successful.

From  the Cornfield, is this any way to inspire confidence in the US economy  when politicians seem intent on playing a game of Chicken with America's  economic future?