ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- A lot of people across the country and here in the Tampa Bay area were furious on New Year's Eve that lawmakers came down to the wire in reaching a deal on the fiscal cliff.

Ann Kanuck, a veteran, said, "We send a very powerful message to the world on New Year's Eve when we choose not to act."

Lisa Flynn is a mother of four who said, "I have a son with disabilities and you know this is drastically going to affect us."

Kanuck added, "I'm also a veteran, so I look at things like the long-term ramifications in terms of the military and all of the social systems we have in place that will suffer."

Tom Testa said, "[I'm] fed up. Definitely fed up. It shouldn't have to come to this point, you know. To where you're worried about jobs, you're worried about healthcare, and you're worried about, of course, taxes."

And speaking of taxes, over at Liberty Tax Service's Clearwater office, just about everything when it comes to early filing was put on hold. Howard Rothman owns the store and said, "They've been playing politics for the last six to eight weeks."

Meanwhile, Testa said he's going to remember the last-minute deal and his frustration with lawmakers when it's time to cast his vote during the midterm election of 2014.