My friend and fellow columnist Sam Bauman is surprisingly sanguine about the looming, year-end "fiscal cliff," which he describes as a "fiscal slope" with minimal impact on seniors and low-income Americans. I beg to differ, respectfully of course. "Seniors alarmed by all the dire warnings about a 'fiscal cliff' ... on Jan, 1, 2013, can relax a bit," Sam wrote last Tuesday. "Taxes will go up, but over a year-long period, so the initial impact won't be dire." The fact is that an average family will sustain a $2,000 federal income tax increase in 2013 if President Obama and Congress …