DENVER (CBS4) – For weeks Democrats and Republicans have talked about compromising to avoid the fiscal cliff. Now it’s back to the same old political posturing, and if a deal isn’t reached, the impact on Colorado could be enormous.

Colorado stands to lose about $68 million for everything from education to transportation and health care to human services if Congress and the president can’t reach a deal.

The economic impact will be far greater and the industry that will take the biggest hit in Colorado is aerospace and defense where federal spending cuts could cost some 18,000 jobs.

Colorado is home to five major military installations, five strategic commands, eight large defense and aerospace employers and 1,500 small defense contractors. They say the government is already scaling back contracts and causing some companies to scale back their workforce.

In addition to a large military presence, Colorado also has the most federal installations of any state in the country, including two dozen federal labs.