Coming soon: Three more fiscal cliffs

3. Continuing Budget Resolution: The federal government works on a fiscal year that starts every Oct. 1. Problem is it has been years since it actually enacted a real budget on time.

There’s a process for enacting a budget: Congressional committees are supposed to hold hearings. Experts and interested parties testify about proposals. Lawmakers deliberate over the right spending levels for each federal agency and then roll it all up into a budget.

But Congress rarely ends up following that process. Instead, it usually passes short-term “continuing resolutions,” which is fancy way of saying “Band Aid solution.”

Deadline: The current continuing resolution expires on March 27.