OKLAHOMA CITY -
Only five
days now before we go off the ‘fiscal cliff', sending taxes higher and cutting
federal spending. But Businesses in Oklahoma say the lack of a deal in Washington
is already having a negative effect on them.
At Port Interiors in Edmond, this was their first
Christmas in business.
"It is a little bit less than what we expected, which
is congruent with what other small shop owners have said as well," said owner Teresa
Featherly.
They sell big-ticket items like furniture as well as
less expensive decorative touches, and Featherly fears the unknown about what
may or may not happen in Washington D.C. is making her customers apprehensive
about spending money.
12/26/2012
Related Story: Milk Prices Could Soar If Deal On ‘Fiscal Cliff' Not Met
That seems to be the trend nationwide as well.
According to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report that was
released on Tuesday, holiday sales in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7
percent, the weakest holiday performance since 2008.
"It's a scary thing," said David Stanley President Rob
Stanley.
Stanley says his car sales have remained steady, but
he fears that will change without a deal by January 1.
"You're talking between $2,500 and $6,000 dollars a
year in extra taxes for the average consumer, that's a year's worth of car
payments," he told News 9. "So I see it changing things quite a bit."
Stanley and Featherly both agree the waiting may be
the worst.
"I think it's scarier, that lag time and not knowing
rather than just pulling off the Band-Aid and knowing what's going to happen
one way or another," said Featherly.
Economists warn that if we do go off the fiscal cliff
it will send the country back into a recession.
Use this calculator to figure out how they would affect
you
According to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report that was released on Tuesday, holiday sales in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent, the weakest holiday performance since 2008.
