Federal funding for programs such as Title I, Head Start, students with disabilities, and higher-education research will remain intact—for now—after Congress approved an 11th-hour deal to avoid tumbling off the “fiscal cliff.”
The extraordinary New Year’s Day approval of a compromise bill hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on. It also prevents House Republicans from facing blame for blocking tax cuts for most American households, though most GOP lawmakers parted ways with Speaker John Boehner and opposed the measure.
Passage also lays the groundwork for future battles between the two sides over federal spending and the national debt, as it puts off mandatory across-the-board cuts to domestic programs for a period of only two months.…Read More