The Economy & The Fiscal Cliff
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Latest Points:
• U.S. stocks increase in first day of 2013 trading following "cliff" deal
• With "cliff" deal reached, House members turn attention to Sandy bill
• Despite deal reached, budget fights anticipated over next coming months
• LIVE COVERAGE: Latest political news from Reuters
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BOOM: "A majority of Americans agree with my approach," says Obama.by jennifer bendery via twitter 11/9/2012 6:15:52 PM -
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Bush gave a press conference after reelection, Clinton did too, and Reagan. Obama gave a statement with no questions.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 11/9/2012 6:20:15 PM -
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Obama says open to compromise in talks on fiscal cliff
WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday invited congressional leaders to the White House to start negotiating a deal to prevent sharp tax hikes and spending cuts from going into effect at the end of the year and said he was "open to compromise."
"I'm open to new ideas," he said in his first White House appearance since defeating Republican Mitt Romney in Tuesday's election. "I'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced." He again pushed for higher taxes for wealthier Americans.
If Congress and the administration don't act, the abrupt fiscal tightening would tip the weak economy into recession, analysts have said. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this week unemployment could rise above 9 percent year if nothing is done to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. -
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Salvaging the "fiscal cliff" talks - and reassuring shaky global financial markets - is likely to fall largely to President Barack Obama after Republicans abandoned the "Plan B" fix championed by Speaker of the House John Boehner.
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Boehner says Congress, Obama must keep working on US fiscal deal
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Friday that congressional leaders and President Barack Obama must try to move on from House Republicans' failed tax plan and work together to resolve the looming U.S. "fiscal cliff."
Boehner said he was not concerned that Thursday's withdrawn vote threatened his position as speaker, but did not outline a clear path forward.
Boehner said a divided Washington must come together to revamp the massive U.S. tax code in a way that helps spur economic growth. "How we get there, God only knows." -
Analysis: Rating agencies won't cut U.S. on fiscal cliff - yet
The stalled progress in the Washington budget battle may be rattling markets but the gridlock among policymakers will not move the rating agencies to downgrade the United States - yet.
The U.S. credit rating is far from safe. All three major agencies have negative outlooks on the United States, which suffered its first downgrade in history last year when Standard & Poor's stripped it of its triple-A rating.
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After Boehner’s Plan B, crafting a new plan for Republicans by Reihan Salam
House Speaker John Boehner has struggled for weeks to unite his fellow Republicans around a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Having failed to find a package of tax increases and spending cuts acceptable to the Obama administration and the House GOP, he pivoted to a politically shrewd “Plan B” that would have extended all of the Bush-era tax cuts except for the high-income rate reductions that applied to income above a $1 million threshold. But as Boehner and his lieutenants worked to rally support, they found that they didn’t have the votes to pass “Plan B.” And so Boehner has suffered what is widely regarded as a humiliating defeat, one that has left many observers wondering whether he can survive for long as speaker.
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Hours from "fiscal cliff," Washington still awaits deal
The Congress comes back on Monday without a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and with only a few hours of actual legislative time scheduled in which to act if an agreement materializes.
Negotiations involving Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to offer the last hope for avoiding the across-the-board tax increases and draconian cuts in the federal budget that will be triggered at the start of the New Year because of a deficit-reduction law enacted in August 2011.
A Republican Senate leadership aide described discussions between McConnell and Biden as "good talks," saying they lasted late into Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, some Republicans said progress could be better served by open debate rather than "backroom" discussions.
"What we ought to do is put a bill on the Senate floor and let people actually offer amendments and vote on it. We shouldn't be here waiting for people to cut deals in backrooms," Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, said on "The Early Show" on CBS.
"The American people ought to be able to watch the discussion and debate and how people vote on various issues," he said.
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DOD official tells @clawrenceCNN Pentagon ready to tell 800,000 civilian employees they could face limited furlough if no deal reachedby Vaughn Sterling via twitter 12/31/2012 8:21:39 PM -
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Reuters: U.S. House of Representatives might not vote on any fiscal cliff deal before midnight deadline, likely pushing vote into new year, Republican aide says. Delaying vote until New Year's Day would have minimal impact since financial markets will be closed for holiday.
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US House may not vote on any fiscal cliff deal before Jan. 1
The U.S. House of Representatives may not vote on any Senate-passed "fiscal cliff" deal until after Monday's midnight EST deadline (0500 on Tuesday), a Republican leadership aide said.
The aide said any negative fallout from delaying a vote until Tuesday, New Year's Day, would be minimal since financial markets would be closed.
The aide noted, "We still don't have a bill from the Senate and we want members to read it before they vote on it."
UAE's Israel deal met with Arab dismay but quiet welcome in Gulf
JERUSALEM From cries of "betrayal" to fears about "falling dominoes", the deal making the United Arab Emirates the third Arab state to forge ties with Israel stirred anger and dismay around the Middle East, but a cautious welcome from the UAE's Gulf allies.