Alan Simpson and Mr. Burns from ‘The Simpsons’ talk fiscal cliff

The “fiscal cliff� is looming. Talks are basically at a standstill. Fingers are being pointed. Here to weigh in: two sets of Simpsons.

One, the animated Fox TV show “The Simpsons,� gets its resident moneybags, Mr. Burns, to explain the spending cuts and tax increases set to launch in the new year.

Set in the Springfield Republican Party Headquarters in the aftermath of the election, Burns sits despondent before a drooping Romney-Ryan poster and scattered books titled “Binders� and “Nate Silver Can’t Add.�

Then, scene change. Burns is standing with a small toy car that he’s using to trace the jagged lines of a chart.

“Think of the economy as a car and the rich man as the driver,� he intones. “If you don’t give the driver all the money, he’ll drive you over a cliff. It’s just common sense.�

Maybe to him, that is. To many, it’s up to a divided Congress to forestall the recession-causing effects that deficit-slashing measures are expected to have. Figuring out a bipartisan solution will require a deft touch, experts believe.

Like, say, getting a former senator to dance to “Gangnam Style�?

Enter former Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican from Wyoming who served from 1979 to 1997 and who was appointed by President Obama to co-chair his commission on debt reform.

The 81-year-old statesman can be seen on YouTube galloping along to the smash hit song from South Korean star Psy – all in an attempt to get young people involved in the fiscal cliff debate.

Simpson was recruited by the nonpartisan group Can Kicks Back, which urges the millennial generation to lobby for a deficit-reduction plan. The organization hopes that officials will reach agreement by the summer instead of stalling, or as some say, kicking the can down the road.

In the video, Simpson tells viewers to “stop Instagramming your breakfast and tweeting your first world problems and getting on YouTube so you can see ‘Gangnam Style.’�

He asks young people to use their social media skills to recruit fellow millennials to the cause.

Then he busts out moves like “the horseback� and “the lasso.�

Think you’re more of an expert on the issue than either Simpson? Take the fiscal cliff quiz to find out.

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