FISCAL CLIFF AVERTED - CONGRESS PRESENTS A BILL TO THE PRESIDENT

At 10:00 PM CT tonight, Congress has approved a bill to avoid the Fiscal Cliff. The bill is retroactive, so it would be like never going over the cliff.  The House voted 257-167 to pass a last-ditch Senate compromise to avert the fiscal cliff.  Originally, the President wanted higher taxes to kick in for people making $250,000 per year, but the new deal, now approved by Congress, allows Bush-era income tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 or couples earning less than $450,000. It temporarily puts off budget cuts for the next two months. The President, who most likely is hesitant to sign the bill, will do so. since the bill has bi-partisan approval, He is expected to make comments on the bill in less than 10 minutes from now, at around 10:20 PM CT. The passing of the bill does show at least a good start for approving legislation, but much more work is left to do, as now the Congress is immediately faced with approving a new budget by the end of January, or the government will run out of money.