Which Way, L.A.?
Fiscal Cliff Averted
Congress may have averted the fiscal cliff, but the deal didn't solve the nation's long-term fiscal problems. What did yesterday's deal accomplish? What's still ahead?
By Sara Terry • • 1h 0m ListenIn a flurry of New Year's Day negotiating, Congress stepped back from the fiscal cliff with bi-partisan legislation that keeps Bush-era tax cuts in place for 99 percent of Americans. But the deal did not include spending cuts that Republicans had demanded and critics say it does nothing to address the nation's deeper, long-term fiscal problems, such as spending on entitlement programs. On this rebroadcast of today's To the Point, guest host Sara Terry looks at what yesterday's deal accomplished and what's still ahead. Also, 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed one of the most important documents in US history. We look back at the Emancipation Proclamation.
Banner image: US Senate Minority Leader McConnell speaks to reporters on his way to the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Photo by Mary F. Calvert/Reuters
In this episode
3 storiesWhat Does Fiscal Cliff Deal Do for the Economy?
Financial markets responded positively today to the last-minute legislation passed by Congress yesterday to avert some of the nation's most pressing fiscal problems. Global markets in the US, Europe and Japan opened with an early rally. Sudeep Reddy is economics reporter with the Wall Street Journal .
Read the story8 minHanging Ten on the Fiscal Cliff: Congress Pulls Back from the Edge
It was down to the wire on Capitol Hill yesterday. In the end, lawmakers stepped back from the so-called fiscal cliff when the House voted to pass a Senate bill that increases taxes on households earning more than $450,000 and postpones $110 billion in spending cuts through the end of February.
Read the story34 minLincoln's Emancipation Proclamation Still Misunderstood
On New Year's Day in 1863, with the nation in the middle of a civil war, Abraham Lincoln signed a document that has become known as one of the most important in American history.
Read the story9 min
