Worst Christmas shopping season since 2008 is blamed on ‘fiscal cliff’

◼ ‘Great unknown’ hinders confidence of consumers - Patrice Hill/Washington Times

Washington played the Grinch that stole Christmas this year as the partisan impasse over the budget deficit instilled fear that the nation will fall over the “fiscal cliff,” dashing consumer holiday spirits and spending.

The holiday shopping season started out with a bang, with sales hitting records over Thanksgiving weekend, but it ended with a whimper as consumers increasingly withdrew from the malls this month amid the din of discord and finger-pointing over whether to extend all or just some of the $600 billion in tax cuts and spending programs due to end next week.

Gauges of Christmas sales range from dismal to so-so. One group that tracks shoppers said it was the worst showing since the bleak Christmas of 2008, when the country was in the midst of a historic financial crisis. MasterCard’s SpendingPulse, which tracked sales from Oct. 28 to Dec. 24, said sales grew by only 0.7 percent over last year, but other trackers reported somewhat higher numbers.

The poor ending to the shopping season forced economists to lower their estimates for sales gains from the solid 3 percent to 4 percent range originally forecast.

ShopperTrak is expecting a 2.5 percent increase in November and December sales, down from an earlier forecast of 3.3 percent. The International Council of Shopping Centers said growth during the final week before Christmas was only 0.7 percent, but it is sticking to its forecast of 3 percent for the whole season.

“What could have been a merry Christmas is going to turn to a ho-hum Christmas, and we can thank our, you know, politicians for getting in the middle of it all,” NPD Group analyst Marshal Cohen said. “This great unknown puts a big damper on the consumer feeling confident to go out and spend more.”

◼ The Biggest Cliff of All - Daniel Henninger/Wall Street Journal

If you´re looking for optimism as the world turns toward 2013, stay up late watching paid-for television explaining how to turn wrinkles into miracles. Past that, my own reservoir of uplift is a bit dry this year. A famous and successful American optimist, Ronald Reagan, put his finger closer to the problem when he suggested there was little limit to what people could accomplish if government would get out of the way. As Barack Obama flies from Hawaii´s beaches to Washington´s cliff, there may be four or five liberals who´ve come to agree with the Gipper.

Indeed, a reality has become too obvious for the world's dazed inhabitants not to notice: The greatest threat to the upward arc of human progress is the collapse of public policy making. That is the biggest cliff of all.

Governments are giving government a bad name.

◼ What will it cost you? Fiscal deal failure would dent monthly budgets for millions - FOX

◼ PUBLIC TURNS GLOOMY, FEARFUL AS 2013 APPROACHES - Mike Flynn/Breitbart

The holidays are traditionally a time where we renew our optimism about the future. Gatherings with friends and family, festive meals and sparkling decorations are all powerful elixirs to the wear-and-tear of daily life. A new ABC/WaPo poll, however, shows that this year the holiday spirit is powerless to boost the public's mood. Almost half of Americans, in fact, are fearful about their own lives in the new year.

◼ Tax chaos looms - Bernie Becker and Peter Schroeder/The Hill