Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 12/26/12:  With just 5 days until the end of the year and the beginning of $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts, Congress has yet to come to a resolution to the “fiscal cliff.”  Given the sense of urgency, President Obama has planned to cut his family time in Hawaii short and head back to Washington on Thursday.  With Republicans controlling the vote, the Democrats would need at least 26 of them on order to approve a bill increasing taxes on the 2 percent wealthiest Americans.  Should no deal be made, taxes are scheduled to rise automatically and no vote would be needed.  However, this could work in the Democrats favor; they would only need to vote on lowering taxes for 98 percent of tax-paying Americans.

Markets remain relatively unchanged, closing just a tick higher.  Investors continue to wait in the wings and consumers held back in spending most likely due to worries surrounding the fiscal cliff.