"Fiscal cliff" averted after deal clears House

President Obama delivers a statement at the White House, Jan. 1, 2013, as Vice President Joe Biden looks on. / Getty

Congress has started its climb back up the "fiscal cliff."

After House Republicans finally relented to the Senate's "far from perfect" plan (as many members put it), the House Tuesday night passed the bill 257-167 with GOP and Democratic support.

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"Fiscal cliff" deal: how it came to pass

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The bill received 85 Republican votes, after GOP lawmakers huddled for hours Tuesday, wringing their hands over the lack of spending cuts in the bill. House leaders considered holding a vote on an amendment to add a $323 billion package of spending cuts, but the Democratic-led Senate said it wouldn't accept an amended bill. Democrats, while also expressing concerns about the deal, largely supported the measure with just 16 voting against it.

"The American people told us in the election they wanted us to work together," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor this evening. "They have their differences, too; they understand disagreement. They also understand compromise. And that is what this legislation represents... While this bill doesn't do all that we need to do.. it is a good way for us to have a happy start to a new year."

After the House passed the bill, President Obama thanked all parties involved in the negotiations. The bill, he said from the White House briefing room, "raises taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while preventing a middle class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into a recession." About a half hour after delivering his remarks, Mr. Obama left the White House to rejoin his family, still on vacation in Hawaii.

The deal came together after marathon talks between Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., over the weekend. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 89-8 in the early morning hours of the new year.

• It's official: Deal reached on "fiscal cliff"
• The art of the "fiscal cliff" deal

The deal protects most Americans from an income tax hike and extends long-term unemployment insurance, among other things. The details of the bill are as follows:

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[bbglow]

The democrats would have maintained more leverage on taxes on upper income if they had allowed the "cliff" to happen. Allowing this to pass demonstrates their willingness to compromise. The next phase - debt reduction and government expense reduction will require republican compromise on tax exemptions and subsidies that benefit only the very few, i.e. tax exemptions to send jobs abroad.

We, the American people are watching.

[stsheetrock]

The Bill passed the House 257 to 167 as 85 Republicans and 172 Democrats voted to send the bill to the President to be signed, and 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted no. It's a month since Israel evaporated outta world headlines. Israel is another Antarctica everybody knows it is in the South Pole but no one would deal with it but the bribed and the corrupt. Come on girls. Its ain't secret no mo. Israel lost the White House and the Capitol big time. Israel got to commit a crime grab headlines or get Eric Cantor to draw American Fools' attention. Eric cantor is the only Israelifirster Zionist who will love to U-Haul Israel to World Headlines if he's elected. AMA American Action Majority spokesperson Ron Meyer rightly said. "That's more than enough to get the job done, but the one problem these guys face is they need a leader to coalesce behind." AMA coalesced At least 20 House Republican members together, discussed this and wanted to unseat Speaker Boehner. They are willing to do what it takes to get House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) take the helm after Boehner is knocked out. I couldn't agree more with you Alana that John Boehner fiscal YEA vote to clone Nancy Pelosi NEA vote and Steny Hoyer YEA vote to fund Iraq war was his biggest botch. It's a lovely idea, but first USA have to get it past corrupt politicians many of whom are quite aware of the scam that plays USA on daily basis, however rather than do the job USA have elected them to do, they keep their mouths shut and instead look after themselves and their families, whilst the rest of USA continue to be exploited.

[me_nz]

Where do you GOP idiots get your supposed facts from you just make them up or you listen to too much Teabag talk back. You actually believe this twisted garbage you spout. E.g. Obama will spend more money than every other American President in our history. Sorry but that is pure BS. Obama in fact inherited both the worst of deficits and a massive recession from that republican economic genius G.W.Bush. That war criminal Bush inherited both a surplus and a buoyant economy from Clinton who had turned around the massive Reganomic deficits. Bush created that mess both by cutting taxes especially for the rich and having an regulated banking industry which is exactly the same types of policies Mitt the Moron and the Tea baggers wanted last time. If you want to know what would have happened had Obama cut like you idiots suggest go back to what happened when Hoover did exactly that and turned the depression into a worldwide economic catastrophe of the Great Depression. This was only mitigated with the coming of FDR and the New Deal. I wonder if you one eyed GOP spin sputters are smart enough to spot the pattern here?

[bobman85]

Senator Obama: "it's unpatriotic to raise the debt ceiling"

President Obama: "We need to raise the debt ceiling"

so even Senator Obama believes President Obama is unpatriotic.

[j7w]

Fiscal Cliff averted my ass! Do you know that 77% of American Taxpayers will end up paying more taxes in 2013 and we are not talking about the wealthy. If you make up to $80k a year, your taxes will go up by as much as $900. Also, this Fiscal Cliff deal is going to add another $4 TRILLION to the deficit, which is currently already at $16 TRILLION! ANOTHER OBAMA LIE! JUST ANOTHER PORK BARREL BILL TO GIVE HIM MORE MONEY TO SPEND and to run the Federal Government without a budget. JUST WATCH! In a couple of months, he will be back asking for another 'budget bill' to pass!

[bobman85]

I could not have said it any better myself, by the time Obama is out of office he will spend more money then EVERY other president combined (including Bush) the democrats complained about Bushes spending, senator Obama even said it was unpatriotic to spend as mush as Bush did, then president Obama out spent every president in our history combined, what a joke the democrat party is.

[easymoola]

Thats not important. What is important is that President Obama won-nothing else matters. I think all of us should just surrender our paychecks to Obama and let him decide what we need.

Look, J7W, 50 million people have to have food stamps, people are starving in the streets. People say we have an fat problem-they may look fat but it is a myth or else 50 million would not be on food stamps.
And J7W, 50 % of the college grads can't find work in their fields so we need to invest more money into education. Being able to fill out job applications is not taught in college so the president is so so right in needing more money to teach these grads to read and right.
Free Obama phones do not have adequate data plans so we need more money spent there.

[AttyFAM]

Please note that 167 Republican Representatives (2/3 of all the Republican Reps) were willing to let the fiscal cliff happen rather than raise taxes on the wealthy.

RECALL ALL GOP CONGRESSMEN! THE GOP MUST BE DESTROYED!

[bobman85]

the fiscal cliff should have happen, its funny that you want other people to pay more taxes but you feel as if you should not have to.

[Allah_speaking]

RECALL ALL OF CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT FOR NOT PRODUCING A BUDGET. Now stop being an idiot.

[Lucky12345678]

Raise taxes, but keep the current level of Federal Spending... Now that's just great, the Trillion dollar a year deficit spending President strikes yet again!!!

[Yimmybob]

Welcome to the reborn NSDAP! The National Socialist Democratic Workers Party of the Nazi 1930s is BACK with a new Hitler "Dear Leader" at the wealth controls. YOU let it happen, America and now you can reap the whirlwind that you have sown. The dead wind of Entropy blows through the land.

[littlemjs]

So much for Democrats promise to not raise taxes on the middle class. For those of you who still believe the Democrats are any better than the Republicans....they are much better at lying! lol

"While the deal does extend the Bush-era tax rates for the middle class, most Americans will still see a tax hike this year. That's because both Democrats and Republicans agreed to let the payroll tax holiday enacted two years ago to expire, meaning payroll taxes will go up to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent. "

[credibility2]

This is merely a band aid approach and does nothing to end the out of control spending by this administration. According to the Congressional Budget Office this temporary fix generates $41 in new taxes for every $1 in spending cuts. Any intelligent person can see that the "fix" perpetuates more taxing, more spending and more debt, and more than likely a push to continue to raise the debt ceiling to satisfy the frenetic and rabid appetite this administration has for spending. The 41:1 ratio also proves that taxing will never compensate for spending reductions until and unless they are severe and deep. America has lost and has been misled into believing that the deal reached will end all of its fiscal woes. Nothing was resolved.