Legislators show no signs they're heading toward compromise in resolving the nation's next financial crisis, with Democrats talking about further taxes hikes on the rich, and Republicans saying a crippling default on U.S. debt is possible unless they get significant cuts in government spending.
The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. The pre-dawn 89-to-8 vote set the stage for a final showdown in the House, where a vote was expected later Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday.
Despite an intensifying pace, little progress is being reported in talks on averting automatic spending cuts and tax increases that economists fear could send the U.S. economy off a "fiscal cliff."
Four times in five years, lawmakers have introduced the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge Act to bar senators and representatives from investing based on knowledge they gained in the course of their duties. Three times, the STOCK Act has died in committee. Will the fourth time be the charm?
President Barack Obama, who has disagreed with Republican Congress members on whether to extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans beyond this year, said Tuesday that he will work with U.S. senators on finding some sort of tax-policy agreement by the end of the year.
House Democrats may help overrule President Barack Obama by voting to extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts on investment income beyond this year, the Associated Press reported.
By an almost entirely party-line vote of 247 to 161, the House on Tuesday passed a $26 billion bill that Democrats say will save the jobs of more than 300,000 teachers, municipal workers and first responders such as police officers and firefighters. President Obama quickly signed the legislation into law.
President Obama urged lawmakers to pass a $26 billion jobs bill that Democrats say would save the jobs of 160,000 teachers across the country, as well as 150,000 first-responders, including police officers and firefighters. Republicans blasted the plan as a hand-out to unions.
