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| United States avoids calamity in "fiscal cliff" drama Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States averted economic calamity on Tuesday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world's largest economy off a "fiscal cliff" and into recession. The agreement hands a clear victory to President Barack Obama, who won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Republican antagonists were forced to vote against a core tenet of their anti-tax conservative faith. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gambian leader says to build herbal AIDS-cure hospital Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:39 PM PST  BANJUL (Reuters) - AIDS patients would be offered an herbal cure at a 1,111-bed hospital in Gambia that the president said on Tuesday he plans to build despite medical concerns the treatment is dangerous. President Yahya Jammeh said in 2007 he had found a remedy of boiled herbs to cure AIDS, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: In era of gridlock, Congress "created a monster" Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:03 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Setting a looming deadline to avert self-created calamity has become a frequent device for the U.S. Congress to get things done in recent years. When all else fails, as it often does, it's supposed to frighten members into action. That was the idea when Congress created the "fiscal cliff" in August, 2011 to resolve a partisan struggle, also with a deadline and also self-created, over raising the federal debt ceiling. ... Full Story | Top |
| After fiscal win, Obama warns Congress on debt fight Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:51 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Speaking after winning a "fiscal cliff" victory, President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to avoid a repeat of last year's divisive fight with Congress over an extension of the nation's borrowing authority. "While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they have already racked up," Obama said in remarks in the White House. He urged "a little less drama" in coming budget talks about cutting government spending. (Reporting by Alistair Bell; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Obama resumes Hawaii vacation after "fiscal cliff" bill passes Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:51 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama departed the White House on Tuesday to resume his Hawaii vacation shortly after Congress approved legislation that raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans and avoids the "fiscal cliff" of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts. The president left the White House shortly before midnight. He had cut his vacation short on Wednesday to oversee negotiation of a deal before a year-end deadline. (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Chavez aware his condition complicated: Vice President Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:35 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is aware that his condition is complicated following a fourth cancer operation in Cuba, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday, as the OPEC nation watches for clues to the socialist leader's health. Maduro said he was returning to Venezuela after spending several days alongside Chavez and members of the president's family. That may help squelch rumors his visit was a sign that the former soldier was near death. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Fiscal cliff" bill sails through House test vote Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 06:50 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to avert the U.S. "fiscal cliff" by canceling most scheduled tax hikes and delaying spending cuts cleared a procedural vote in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin, indicating strong support for final passage in a vote expected later on Tuesday. The House voted 408-10 to approve a rule allowing for consideration of the fiscal cliff bill that was passed by the Senate early on Tuesday. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Top House Republican predicts final passage of "fiscal cliff" bill Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives said he expected the chamber to give final approval on Tuesday night to the Senate-passed "fiscal cliff" bill. Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier made the prediction in a brief interview with Reuters after his panel cleared the way for the measure to be brought to the House floor. Dreier said he expected it to pass with bipartisan support, but declined to guess how many Republicans would back it, other than to say, "Quite a few." (Reporting By Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: "Fiscal cliff" deal called a dud on deficit front Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the controversy surrounding the "fiscal cliff" issue, it's easy to forget that the origin of the entire debate was a professed desire to reduce swollen federal deficits. Whether the target was $4 trillion over 10 years, as proposed by the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction commission, or in the $2 trillion range, as tossed around by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama, the idea was to rein in total debt that now tops $16 trillion. By those standards, the bill passed by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| More evidence for "obesity paradox" Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 03:12 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a review of almost 100 past studies covering nearly three million people, researchers found that being overweight or slightly obese was linked to about a 6 percent lower risk of dying, compared to people considered "normal weight." Being severely obese, however, was still tied to an almost 30 percent higher risk of death. The idea that being somewhat overweight could be linked to better health has been dubbed the obesity paradox, even though actual obesity is generally not associated with the apparent "benefit. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans balk at "fiscal cliff" deal Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last-minute efforts to step back from the "fiscal cliff" ran into trouble on Tuesday as Republicans in the House of Representatives balked at a deal that would prevent Washington from pushing the world's biggest economy into a recession. House Republicans complained that a bill passed by the Senate in a late-night show of unity to prevent a budget crisis contained tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans but no spending cuts. Some conservatives sought to change the bill to add cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans meeting to mull "fiscal cliff" options: aide Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:39 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives are meeting to consider how to move forward with the Senate's plan to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts, a congressional aide said on Tuesday. The 5:15 p.m. (2215 GMT) meeting was called about two hours after a number of House Republicans panned a Senate bill that would raise taxes on household incomes over $450,000 a year. It was unclear whether Republican leaders had made a decision on how to proceed with the Senate bill. (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Senate's "fiscal cliff" bill adds $4 trillion to deficits: CBO Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:10 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said Senate-passed legislation to avert the "fiscal cliff" would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over a decade, largely because it would extend low tax rates for almost all Americans. The congressional scorekeeper's analysis was released as a number of Republicans in the House of Representatives voiced opposition to the bill, and considered amending it with deeper spending cuts. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and others complained the bill's spending cuts would do little to curb trillion-dollar deficits. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate's "fiscal cliff" bill packed with sweeteners Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate packed an eclectic mix of handouts and takebacks into its last-minute deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff," including a measure to repeal part of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul and a string of special interest tax breaks. At the center of the 157-page bill adopted early Tuesday are provisions to raise taxes on the wealthiest households and to make permanent Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class. The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden will discuss "fiscal cliff" deal with House Democrats Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:25 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden will meet with fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday to discuss the "fiscal cliff" deal that he forged with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a Democratic aide said. The meeting is to be held at the Capitol at 12:15 p.m. ET (1715 GMT). Biden needed to help sell Senate Democrats on the deal before they joined Republicans at about 2 a.m. ET (0700 GMT) in approving the measure. The Republican-led House may vote on the bill as early as later in the day. (Reporting By Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Vicki Allen) Full Story | Top |
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