Time is winding down on Congress and the White House to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff — the set of tax increases and federal funding cuts that would occur should the two sides fail to reach an accord.

Without an agreement, more than $500 billion in automatic tax increases for all Americans and cuts in domestic and military programs will take effect.

There are those who argue that the government should go over the cliff as a form of shock treatment. That way, they argue, lawmakers would be forced to make tough decisions about what stays and what goes in the federal budget.

There is a certain appeal to going off the cliff as a way of getting the nation's financial house in order. It's something akin to filing for bankruptcy for most Americans.

But there is a huge downside to cliff diving, and it doesn't begin or end in Washington.

Every state in the union would feel the impact. In Pennsylvania, it could cost taxpayers an additional $22 billion, according to the Independent Fiscal Office. If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire in total, families with household income of $50,000 would pay an additional 5 percent in taxes. That would have a measurable impact on Lancaster County households, which have a median household income of $55,816, according to the U.S. Census.

Phialdelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has said that if an agreement is not reached, 98 percent of Pensylvanians earning less than $250,000 per year would see a tax hike.

But the fiscal cliff is not solely about tax increases, it's also about federal funding cuts.

An additional $300 million in federal money could be cut. Among the areas hardest hit would be education. Title I funding for low-income students could fall by $43 million, according to state budget secretary Charles Zogby. Special education funding, which affects roughly 271,000 students in the state, could see a cut of $33 million. And Head Start, which was a priority of the Rendell administration, could face $19 million in cuts.

In a telephone conference Monday, Mayor Ed Pawlowski of Allentown said going over the fiscal cliff "would be devastating." He said Allentown faces the prospect of losing more than $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grants that fund a variety of services in the city.

Those cuts, he said, target "our poorest population."

Mayor Kim Bracey of York described lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg as being detached from the reality of the cost of running cities.

Going over the cliff, she said, would cost her city nearly $1 million and that York officials could be forced to trim the police force.

President Obama's plan is balanced. It would hike taxes on the rich and trim federal spending.

Thus far, however, congressional Republicans have opted to drag out the negotiations. Fewer than three weeks remain to hammer out a deal. It's time for them to stop playing games and prove they can govern.