Despite deal, taxes will rise for most

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about...

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House faces test on ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

Vice President Joe Biden gives two thumbs up following a Senate Democratic caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff …The Republican-held House of Representatives faced a tough vote Tuesday on a last-minute “fiscal cliff” compromise to cut taxes on all but the richest Americans and stall some painful spending cuts.  The deal, cut in secret weekend talks and passed by the Senate by a lopsided...

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Harkin: 'No deal is better than a bad deal'

Vice President Joe Biden looks on as President Barack Obama announces the nomination of Senator John Kerry as Secretary …Merry Cliffmas Eve?Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday pursued behind-closed-doors efforts to avoid the “fiscal cliff” with just hours to halt painful automatic income tax hikes from biting into American paychecks.McConnell...

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Obama boasts support of American people in ‘fiscal cliff’ fight

As Congress races to pass legislation before the Jan. 1 "fiscal cliff" deadline, President Barack Obama in an interview which aired Sunday publicly touted the support of the American people for the plan he offered to Republicans."We have put forward not only a sensible deal, but one that has the support of the majority of the American people including close to half of Republicans," the president told...

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Make-or-break moment for fiscal cliff talks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid partisan bluster, top members of Congress and President Barack Obama were holding out slim hopes for a limited fiscal deal before the new year. But even as congressional leaders prepared to convene at the White House, there were no signs that legislation palatable to both sides was taking shape.The Friday afternoon meeting among congressional leaders and the president — their...

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Reid: U.S. is poised to go off fiscal cliff

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R) (D-NV) hugs Speaker of the House John Boehner as Senate Minority Leader Mitch …With a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" nowhere in sight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday predicted a compromise would not be reached in time to avert the tax increases and automatic spending cuts set to be triggered on January 1. Reid also criticized Republican...

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As winter storm bears down on Midwest, death toll climbs

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A powerful storm system that erupted Christmas Day with Gulf Coast tornadoes and snow in the nation's midsection headed for the Northeast on Wednesday, spreading blizzard conditions that slowed holiday travel. The death toll rose to six with car accidents on snow and sleet-slickened highways in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Post-Christmas travelers braced...

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U.S. gun support runs far deeper than politics

BRYAN, Texas (AP) — Adam Lanza's mother was among the tens of millions of U.S. gun owners. She legally had a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle and a pair of handguns, which her 20-year-old son used to kill 20 children and six adults in 10 efficient minutes inside a Connecticut school.In the raw aftermath of the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history, countless gun enthusiasts much like Lanza's mother...

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Firefighters ambushed by gunman while responding to house fire

Residence near shooting and fire in Webster evacuated. (Max Schulte/Rochester Democrat&Chronicle via Twitter)A gunman set a trap and shot and killed two firefighters responding to an early morning blaze in Webster, N.Y. Two other first responders were serious condition, police officials said."It does appear that it was a trap that was set for first responders, but the cause or reasons we don't...

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NRA’s defiant LaPierre dismisses critics of school gun plan

The NRA's Wayne LaPierre speaks at Friday's press conference. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Two days after suggesting a "good guy with a gun" be stationed at every school in the country in response to the deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn., National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre blasted critics of his plan.In an interview broadcast on Sunday's "Meet The Press," LaPierre...

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Final day of funerals for Newtown shooting victims

The final three victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School will be laid to rest today, ending a somber week funerals.A mass will take place today at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church for Josephine Gay, who had celebrated her 7th birthday on Dec. 11.Friends and family have been asked to wear Josephine's favorite color, purple, in her honor. ...

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NRA calls for armed personnel in schools

Wayne LaPierre speaks at Friday's press conference (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)The National Rifle Association on Friday offered his vision of a nationwide program that would place armed security in every school desiring protection in response to last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn."I call on Congress today to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police...

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Daily funerals a sad routine in Newtown

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A season that should be a time of joy has been marked by heart-wrenching loss in Newtown, as more victims from the massacre of 20 children and six adults are laid to rest.At least nine funerals and wakes were held Wednesday for those who died when gunman Adam Lanza, armed with a military-style assault rifle, broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire. Lanza...

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'Constant reminder': Newtown holds third day of funerals

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — For a third straight day Wednesday, funeral processions rolled through a grieving Connecticut town trying to make sense of the massacre of 20 first-graders and six adults in an elementary school less than two weeks before Christmas.Dr. Joseph Young, an optometrist, said he has already been to one funeral and plans to attend two or three more."The first few days, all you heard...

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First of eight funerals begins at Newtown church

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn.A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost...

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Funerals begin for Newtown victims

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, headed for the first two of 20 funerals of schoolchildren massacred in their classroom as the rest of the nation anxiously sent children back to school on Monday with tightened security. Within hours of the school day starting, lockdowns were declared in nearby Connecticut and New York towns. In New Jersey, one high school's...

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Portraits of Conn. victims show lives at their very start, ended in gunfire

Most died at the very start of their young lives, tiny victims taken in a way not fit for anyone regardless of age. Others found their life's work in sheltering little ones, teaching them, caring for them, treating them as their own. After the gunfire ended Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the trail of loss was more than many could bear: 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's...

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Evidence at suspected shooter’s home may point to motive, police say

Conn. State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance at Saturday morning's news conference. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)NEWTOWN, CT - Evidence recovered at gunman Adam Lanza's home may provide a motive for the massacre that left 26 dead at an elementary school, police said on Saturday.State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance declined to provide specifics about the evidence but said, "we're hopeful it will paint...

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Report: Children shot, killed at Conn. elementary school

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - At least 27 people, including children, were killed on Friday when at least one shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, CBS News reported, citing unnamed officials. The shooter, the father of a student there, was also killed, CBS News reported. The principal and school psychologist were among the dead, CNN said. ...

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Why Hillary Clinton won't get a break from public life

By Walter ShapiroThe envelope, please. The 2012 award for the most candid comment by a prominent public official goes to Hillary Clinton. Her uncharacteristic burst of honesty adds a layer of complexity to the premature speculation about her political future. In an interview with the New York Times columnist Gail Collins, Clinton revealed her fantasy for 2013 after she takes her final globe-girdling...

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