let s take the conversation to the brain trust. joining me now on set we should note here, political analyst and author bloomberg view columnist jonathan alter from d.c. john staten. john, good to see you. and here in the studio, u.s. news and world report opinion columnist boyce epstein. good afternoon to all of you. let s get right to it. john, let s start with you. you re the elder statesman. thanks a lot! no, it s good, in a good way. the fiscal cliff. what are we looking at? and how do you think it s going to play out? well, first of all, it s not like we fall off a cliff on january 2nd. you know, it s a nice metaphor that is not exactly the way things work. if people are paying at a higher tax bracket, that s not even reflected in their paychecks, which reflect the payroll tax. it wouldn t be until april 15th or people paying quarterly might pay sooner. but this is going to be
0 shaping up to be the most important supreme court term in decades for civil rights. the justices are already looking at affirmative action and college admissions. now they ve agreed to consider whether to gut the landmark voting rights law. here is the question simply stated. has racial discrimination in the south diminished to the point that a key part of the voting rights act passed 47 years ago is no longer needed to assure access to the ballot box and to give minority candidates a fair shot at getting elected? well r reporter: and renewed four times since then. most recently in 2006, signed by president george w. bush. but with an african-american in the white house and more minorities in congress and state houses, challengers say it s outdated. this is based on criteria that came from the 1964 presidential election. it s 40 what, 48 years old, 47, 48 years old. and the south has changed in that 48 years. it s not current. it s not relevant anymore. reporter: it requires