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US Congress okays deal to avoid fiscal cliff
Wednesday January 02, 2013 12:55:16 PM,
IANS
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Related Article |
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US heads over fiscal cliff despite reported deal
Leaders of the Democratic controlled Senate and the White House
struck a last-minute deal to avert the feared fiscal cliff that
can plunge the US economy back into a recession, but the
Republican House of Representatives went home long before
midnight. »
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Washington: A full day
after the New Year deadline, the US Congress has approved a deal
to avoid the worst effects of the so-called fiscal cliff, a mix of
$ 6 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts.
The Republican controlled House approved the deal with a 257-167
vote with bipartisan support an hour before midnight Tuesday after
Republican leaders decided not to try and tack on an amendment to
the Senate version of the legislation approved around 2 a.m.
Tuesday with an overwhelming 89-8 vote.
The package that heads to President Barack's desk for his
signature now puts off budget cuts for two months and preserves
Bush-era income tax cuts for individuals earning less than
$400,000 or couples earning less than $450,000.
Without the compromise deal the fiscal cliff, analysts feared,
could spark a new recession with the resulting reduction in
consumer spending.
Shortly after the passage of the deal brokered by Vice President
Joe Biden, Obama delivered a statement at the White House, saying
he will sign the legislation, but made clear the government still
needs to take a balanced approach on reducing the deficit.
"While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another
debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the
bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they
passed," Obama said, referring to the upcoming debt ceiling
debate.
"I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent
of Americans while preventing a middle class tax hike that could
have sent the economy back into recession and obviously had a
severe impact on families all across America," he said.
The central premise of his campaign for president was to change
the tax code that was "too skewed towards the wealthy at the
expense of middle class Americans," Obama said.
"Tonight we have done that," he added, thanking the leaders of the
House and Senate.
With the deal done, the White House announced Obama will depart
late Tuesday to resume his vacation in Hawaii. He left his family
on the island last week, putting his vacation on hold and
returning to Washington to deal with the fiscal cliff
negotiations.
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