Western Editorial Sampler: Avoiding the cliff ...

"This is a mountain calling to his son, 'Oh, Cliff!!'" — Red Skelton

— The fiscal cliff vote: Only Hatch was part of the solution — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial As Congress moved late Tuesday to avoid falling over the so-called fiscal cliff, Utah's Sen. Orrin Hatch was part of the solution. Every other member of the Utah congressional delegation was part of the problem. Sen. Mike Lee was one of only eight members of the upper chamber to vote against the last-minute deal to head off a planned combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that threatened to push the American economy back into recession. And all three of the state's House members — Republicans Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop and Democrat Jim Matheson — were also on the losing side of a vote that was as necessary as it was unsatisfying for politicos, experts and citizens of every ideological stripe. ...

— Colorado senator votes to go over the cliff — Maureen Dowd | The New York Times/sltrib.com

— Off the fiscal cliff but still on a deficit mountain — Seattle Times Editorial

— Not much of a budget deal — Denver Post Editorial

— Pivot point: It's time to turn to the issue of government spending — Deseret News Editorial

— Congress: Still unable to function — Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial

— Fiscal cliff averted for now, but more drama looms — Tulsa World Editorial

— Paychecks shrink — Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial

— Popping a Wile E. Coyote parachute at the fiscal cliff — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial

— Congress again just delayed its day of reckoning — Des Moines Register Editorial

— Cliff deal better be just the start — San Jose Mercury News Editorial

— Congress needs to make a vow — no more 'fiscal cliffs' — Sacramento Bee Editorial

— Fiscal cliff deal a political, not economic, fix — Orange County Register Editorial

— More cliffs to come — Los Angeles Times Editorial

— Congress' governing-by-crisis mode means more drama to come — Los Angeles Daily News Editorial

— Fiscal deal falls way short — Arizona Republic Editorial

— No way to run a country — Eugene Register-Guard

— A budget deal that solves exactly nothing — Tacoma News-Tribune Editorial

— 'Cliff' solution not so grand of a deal — San Francisco Chronicle Editorial

— Congress huffs, puffs and passes timid deal — Kansas City Star Editorial It could have been worse ...