Photos: Fiscal Cliff Avoided
December 31, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 31: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden leaves a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats to urge them to support a tentative tax agreement with Republicans on Capitol Hill on December 31, 2012, in Washington DC. The Senate stayed in session on New Year's Eve to try to deal with the looming fiscal cliff issue. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Ohio Clock strikes midnight as the Senate continues to work on the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) talks with reporters in the halls of the US Senate late December 31, 2012 in Washington, DC after attending a Democrat Caucus on solving the impending fiscal cliff. The White House and top Republicans struck a deal late December 31, 2012 to avert huge New Year tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff" that had threatened to send the US economy into recession. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
US Vice President Joe Biden talks with reporters in the halls of the US Senate late December 31, 2012 in Washington, DC after attending a Democrat Caucus on solving the impending fiscal cliff. The White House and top Republicans struck a deal late December 31, 2012 to avert huge New Year tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff" that had threatened to send the US economy into recession. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
US Senator Max Bacus (D-MT) talks with reporters in the halls of the US Senate late December 31, 2012 in Washington, DC after attending a Democrat Caucus on solving the impending fiscal cliff. The White House and top Republicans struck a deal late December 31, 2012 to avert huge New Year tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff" that had threatened to send the US economy into recession. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Joe Biden after a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats, in Washington, Dec. 31, 2012. Democratic leaders signed off on the agreement on Monday, but the measure was not going to pass in time for Congress to meet its Dec. 31 deadline to avert automatic tax increases and spending cuts. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), right, before a caucus of Senate Republicans, in Washington, Dec. 31, 2012. While the Senate is close to a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, the House of Representatives has announced it will not vote on the deal before the midnight deadline set by lawmakers. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)
The corridor that leads to the floor of the House of Representatives is empty late Monday with no voting expected on a the fiscal cliff, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. House and Senate leaders are rushing to assemble a last-ditch agreement to head off the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U.S. President Barack Obama smiles while speaking in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Building next to the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Obama, backed by a group of of people described by the White House as "middle class Americans," said an agreement on the so-called fiscal cliff is "within sight," but "it's not done." Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Reporters pursue Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, as he walks to a closed-door meeting with GOP members of the House as Congress in Washington, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, as Senate and House leaders rush to assemble a last-ditch agreement to head off the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1, 2013. The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, from Kentucky, departs the Strom Thurmond room after a Senate Republican caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A sign showing the U.S. national debt is displayed in New York, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Working against a midnight deadline, negotiators for the White House and congressional Republicans narrowed their differences Monday on legislation to avert across-the-board tax increases. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A trader wearing "2013" glasses works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. The stock market struggled for direction Monday morning after five days of losses, with the "fiscal cliff" just hours away and lawmakers yet to reach a solution. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A view of the White House December 31, 2012 in Washington, DC. Lawmakers in Washington continue to work on a last minute compromise to pass legislation to avoid a fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts in the United State's federal budget. Lawmakers were aiming to bring a bill to the Senate floor that would keep tax breaks on the books for middle-class Americans while letting those for the rich expire. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Dawn breaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. U.S. lawmakers hurtled toward a midnight deadline to avert hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases and spending cuts, struggling to extract the country from a fiscal trap they created. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg
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