Both sides insist that their mobilisation along the border is the minimum necessary for self-defence, but Pakistan, at least, is suspicious.

ECONOMIST: Ever more dangerous in Kashmir

So the seven-year stipulation isn't a requirement to automatically repeat the exercise, but a minimum period which must elapse between border polls.

BBC: United Ireland border poll call: diversions and u-turns

Other elements central to the negotiation that would impact middle income earners, mainly the extension of Bush era tax cuts for incomes below the border, patching the alternative minimum tax, and the potential loss in the payroll tax cut, suggest that the economic situation of the middle class as a result of the fiscal reorganization will remain the status quo at best.

FORBES: How Will The Middle Class Fare In The Battle Over The Fiscal Cliff?