POLITICS

POL-Fiscal-Cliff

Is it a slow leak that will grow into a cascade, or a minor drip easily plugged? More and more, conservative Republicans in Congress are breaking from a pledge they signed years earlier against any kind of tax increase or additional tax revenue. Facing the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic tax hikes and deep across-the-board spending cuts at the end of the year, the GOP legislators are signaling their willingness to cut a deal with President Barack Obama and Democrats that would include more money for the government.

POL-White-House-Meeting

Talks to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff are expected to pick up this week as Congress returns to work. But a promised second White House meeting on the crisis between President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders still has not been scheduled -- a possible sign that staff discussions over the Thanksgiving recess did not yield the progress leaders hoped.

POL-House-GOP-Bowles-Meeting

House Republican leaders will meet Wednesday with business leaders including Erskine Bowles, Republican aides on Capitol Hill said Monday, as congressional leaders work to avert a plunge off the so-called "fiscal cliff."

POL-CNN-Poll-Fiscal-Cliff

A new national poll suggests Americans understand that the "fiscal cliff" is no joking matter. Two-thirds of people questioned in a CNN/ORC International survey say that the U.S. would face a crisis or major problems if the country went off the "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, and if that happened, Republicans in Congress would probably receive the greater share of the blame.

POL-Norquist-Pledge-Breakers

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said Monday that his group, Americans for Tax Reform, would work to unseat Republicans who break their pledge to never vote for higher taxes.

POL-Poll-Optimism-Approval

A majority of Americans give President Barack Obama a thumbs up on the job he's doing in office, but according to a new national poll they are less optimistic about the country's future than they were four years ago when Obama won the White House for the first time.

POL-Illinois-Special-Election-Date

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said Monday that a special election will be held to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who stepped down last week amid an ethics probe and ongoing health problems.

POL-Capito-Senate-Run

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, the West Virginia congresswoman who was re-elected earlier this month to a seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, announced Monday she is running for U.S. Senate in 2014.

POL-Chris-Christie-Reelection

There's no more if. Chris Christie is running for re-election. New Jersey's Republican governor told local reporters Monday that he was running for a second term, citing a need to carry out his leadership in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

POL-Christie-Sandy-Bump

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's response to the superstorm that blasted his state appears to have won the outspoken Republican higher approval ratings, according to a poll released Monday.

POL-Gingrich-2016

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who gave Mitt Romney some trouble in the Republican presidential primaries, said the GOP would have to make big changes before he'd consider another White House run.

MONEY

MONEY-fiscal-cliff-tax