Debt Reckoning
Federal Agencies Brace for Possible Cuts
By RON NIXON
Officials are making plans to lay off workers, shift money and delay contracts if President Obama and Congress fail to make a deal to prevent automatic cuts and tax increases.
House Republicans, whose constituents do not want their taxes raised, are faced with the pitch that increasing taxes for the affluent will help the nation over all.
Officials are making plans to lay off workers, shift money and delay contracts if President Obama and Congress fail to make a deal to prevent automatic cuts and tax increases.
President Obama took to the road again in the fiscal debate, touring a German-owned truck factory in Michigan where a new investment of $120 million was announced.
At the same time, the administration rejected the pleas of other states to partially expand Medicaid, causing some Republicans to express disappointment.
Instead of fresh faces, many of the recently elected members of the House of Representatives are career bureaucrats and policy wonks with deep histories in politics and government.
President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner met privately as a top Republican senator said acceding on tax rates for high earners might shift attention to entitlements.
Susan E. Rice, a candidate for secretary of state, is close to Rwanda’s president and is being scrutinized over the United States’ position on the Congo conflict.
The Supreme Court’s hearing of two cases on gay marriage could result in a split decision that would provide benefits to couples in some states, but permit other states to forbid same-sex marriages.
Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey modeled their Hurricane Sandy measure on 2005 legislation passed to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The Federal Reserve must still determine what to buy and how much to spend, and officials continue to debate the best way to describe when the agency is likely to stop buying.
Mr. Hodgson, appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, promoted construction jobs for minority workers and safer American workplaces.
With her tenure as Secretary of State coming to an end, Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be a figure of nearly limitless possibility, but her next few years could ultimately be defined by her plans for the 2016 election.
Despite hints that President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner might compromise on the tax rate paid by top earners, a host of other tax questions could still derail a fiscal deal.
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush also faced automatic budget cuts and rising deficits, but it was only when he gave up his no-tax pledge that negotiations quickened.
Negotiations between the president and Congressional Republicans hinge on a concept outlined in a book called “Getting to Yes.”
The New York Times will be following the talks between President Obama and Congressional leaders on the so-called fiscal cliff.
Racking up more state legislative victories and continuing the momentum in public opinion are vital as the Supreme Court considers same-sex couple marriage.
Compare how much Americans paid in federal, state and local taxes over the past three decades.
Americans went to makeshift sites in East Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy and traditional voting booths in schools, libraries and town halls across the rest of the country.
“Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual,” President Obama said after winning the election. “You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.”
A look at some of the most notable races and ballot measures in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Every week during the 2012 presidential campaign, The Times posted a slide show recapping the events of the past seven days.
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