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US Senate approves deal on 'fiscal cliff' crisis

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US President Barack Obama greets invited guests before making a statement about fiscal cliff negotiations from the White House December 31, 2012. The White House and top Republicans

The White House and top Republicans struck a dramatic deal to avert huge New Year tax hikes and postpone automatic spending cuts that had threatened to send the US economy into recession.

After months of agonizing over the crisis, weeks of debate about a possible solution, and days of intense, closed-door negotiations, members of the US Senate voted overwhelmingly 89-8 early Tuesday to pass a controversial bill that averts the so-called "fiscal cliff."
It now goes to the House of Representatives, which could hold a vote on the measure later New Year's Day.
If agreed by Congress, it would hand President Barack Obama a victory by hiking tax rates on households earning over $450,000 a year, but exempt everyone else from a planned tax increase on Tuesday.
"While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay," Obama said in a statement after the vote.
The deal puts off $109 billion in budget cuts across the government for two months, but in the process sets the stage for a new showdown between Obama's Democrats and Republicans in dysfunctional Washington at the end of February.
"There's more work to do to reduce our deficits, and I'm willing to do it," Obama said.
Vice President Joe Biden, who negotiated the deal with top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, trooped to Capitol Hill to sell it to Democratic senators, some of whom wanted tax hikes to kick in at a lower threshold.
Had no deal been struck, experts warned that the fragile US economy could have been sent spinning back into recession by the $500 billion combined whack from spending cuts and tax hikes.
In the end, the deal was clinched a few hours before a midnight deadline. The Senate vote came just after 2:00 am (0700 GMT), while the House was not due back into session until Tuesday.
Now it remains for Republican House Speaker John Boehner to rally his restive conservative coalition around the pact, which will likely need some Democratic votes in the House to pass.
For two decades, Republicans have fought any attempt to raise taxes so White House officials will see vindication in a deal that enshrines one of Obama's top pledges in his re-election campaign.
In a terse statement, Boehner said his chamber would pick up the legislation if it passed the Senate.
"Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members -- and the American people -- have been able to review the legislation," he said.
Democrats suggested that the deal, like many congressional bargains, was not perfect, but that it was preferable to the alternative.
"It's not that this proposal is regarded as great or is loved in any way. But it's a lot better than going over the cliff," Senator Chuck Schumer told reporters.
World stock markets, expected to be thrown into turmoil by a failure to beat the deadline, are closed New Year's Day, so lawmakers have a few extra hours of breathing room to get the deal concluded.
The deal means a return to Bill Clinton-era tax rates for top earners to 39.6 percent, starting for couples who make $450,000 a year and above.
Obama had originally campaigned for tax hikes to kick in on household income about $250,000.
The president said earlier that the deal would extend tax credits for clean energy firms and also unemployment insurance for two million people that had been due to expire.
It also includes an end to a temporary two percent cut to payroll taxes for Social Security retirement savings and changes to inheritance and investment taxes.
A source familiar with the deal said that the delay to spending cuts -- known as the sequester -- was financed by increased revenues and spending cuts from defense and non-defense spending.
Earlier, on a day of drama and brinkmanship, Obama had angered Republicans when he warned that he was not done with seeking higher taxes on the rich to pay down the US budget deficit.
"I know the president has fun heckling Congress. It's unfortunate he doesn't spend as much time solving problems as he does with campaigns and pep rallies," said Republican Senator Bob Corker, fuming over the remarks.
Signs that a deal could be close cheered investors as US markets rose before closing for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.28 percent at 13,104.14.
Relief seemed to course through the Senate during and after the vote, but both sides were already gearing up for the next legislative showdown, over the need to lift the government's statutory borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion, reached Monday.
The Treasury will take extraordinary measures to keep the government afloat for an undisclosed period of time until the ceiling is raised. Republicans are already demanding spending cuts in return.
That fight will now be doubled, with the deadline for the two-month sequester postponement set up by the fiscal cliff agreement.

Barack Obama remains the most powerful figure in the world in 2012

Under U.S. President Barack Obama this year on top of the list of rated the most influential figures in
The world prepared by Forbes magazine and published on Wednesday.

The French president Francois Hollande (58 years) in fourteenth place of this category, and in the second place after Obama (51 years), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (58 years), which are comparing to the magazine "spine of the European Union, which holds the future of the euro zone on his shoulder ".

The fourth place in this category annual share of Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed in fourth place founder Bill Gates "Microsoft" and then Pope Benedict XVI in fifth place. Drew Forbes magazine that Barack Obama won the U.S. "decisive victory" and Pat in front of him an additional four years to press ahead with his program. Even if the President faces "major challenges", he still "holds the reins of the free world."

And occupied French Christine Lagarde (56 years) Director General of the International Monetary Fund ranked thirty-eighth in this category. Considered Marc Zakrberg (28 years) Executive General Manager for "Facebook" personal younger in this category, which included 71 personal, which has declined from rank ninth to fifth century.

These included the list also both Italian Mario Draghi head the European Central Bank (ranked eighth) and David Cameron, British Prime Minister (in tenth place) and Mario Monti Italian Prime Minister (ranked ninth century), as well as Bernard Arnault head the French group "El in LVMH "(ranked sixth session).

White House: Obama has made ​​no decision on troops in Afghanistan

The White House confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has made ​​no decision yet on the number of U.S. troops that will remain in Afghanistan after 2014.

It quoted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) today announced a White House spokesman Jay Carney said that "he will proposals on this matter in the coming weeks, and the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014 will be limited and will focus on the fight against terrorism and the training of Afghan forces.

A spokesman for the Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), Brigadier General Guenter Katz had confirmed on Monday that put a precise figure for the size of NATO forces (NATO) that will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 deadline to end combat missions for the troops would be premature.

Obama administration faces a harsh interrogation before Congress Petraeus scandal

Times newspaper said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will face a harsh interrogation before Congress within this week, due to the delay the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had been investigating the scandal of director and the Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus, in telling senior administration officials.

The newspaper added that it is clear that Obama was unaware of the issue until November 8, two days after his re-election for a second term note that the Bureau and the U.S. Department of Justice were aware of what is happening since the summer.

She drew the paper, in a report published by the British Broadcasting Corporation, that the Attorney General in the Obama administration may also have been aware of the issue for months.

Governor of New York: $ 30 billion size of the state economic losses caused by hurricane "Sandy"

Gov. announced "New York" American Andrew Cuomo that the economic losses caused to the state due to the hurricane, "Sandy" which hit the east coast of the United States recently reached about 30 billion U.S. dollars.

The Como, in comments carried by network "CNN" of America, on Tuesday, he would not allow any slowdown in the reconstruction after the hurricane, noting that it intends to open investigations with anyone prove slowdown in the execution of orders for action on return to normalcy the state.

He pointed out that it must prepare for the likelihood of such a hurricane again, where such natural disasters do not occur once in a lifetime, but it can be repeated at any time, any place. And still thousands of Americans suffer from blackouts, due to the need to reform the hurricane-ravaged homes first before you begin to reconnect electricity.

Obama's victory embarrassed Netanyahu before Israeli elections

Predicted the CNN News of America that affect the result the U.S. presidential election which kept incumbent President Barack Obama for four more years in the White House, on the path of the Israeli elections, and specifically on the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was linked to friendly relations with the Republican candidate for U.S. elections, Mitt Romney .
The network said in a report today, Friday, posted on its website, said that after months of using the Republican Party to the paper tension between Washington Tel Aviv to face Obama, began the Israeli opposition conduct road eye confront Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, noting that previously the Republican that attacked Obama because of the tension between him and Netanyahu, and considered that his return to the White House would harm relations between Washington and its main ally in the region, but the Obama win a new mandate while preparing Israel for a general election after months, put the burden of the case rests with Israeli Prime Minister himself.
The relations between the White House and the Israeli government has seen significant tension due to differences in views on a range of issues in the region, especially the Iranian nuclear file.
She drew CNN that Kadima, the largest bloc in the Knesset, he began to open relations battle with America to confront Netanyahu, said the party in a statement that Netanyahu is "no longer enjoys the confidence of Obama because of bias in favor of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, no longer the Israelis trust his ability to playing partner actor to Washington, "as Shen former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, a scathing attack on Netanyahu, saying he" inset himself in the American elections, "and accused him of seeking to undermine the chances of Obama winning, and accused him of interfering in American politics to appease businessman Sheldon Adelson, who donated more than one hundred million dollars during the 2012 campaigns for the Republican Party.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Olmert as saying: "Netanyahu behavior in recent months raises the question about whether he had friends in the White House .. something I'm not sure of it."
In the face of this attack, CNN said Israeli Prime Minister camp quickly realized the seriousness of the campaign launched by the opposition, rushed in more than one occasion to emphasize the "strength of the relationship" with the United States, is Mffendin said about the tension between Obama and Netanyahu.
In an interview with CNN acknowledged deputy Israeli foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, the existence of a "special relationship" between Romney and Netanyahu, a reference to the period of their joint work one advisory centers, but categorically denied that Netanyahu had decided preference candidate last presidential election, said Ayalon : "We have no better friend than President Obama," praising the penalties imposed by the White House on Iran, saying it has made that country "fragile political, economic and social."
Noteworthy that the Israeli general elections will be held on January 22, and Netanyahu waged in alliance with the party and his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who in turn has a tough stance of Iran.