Barack Obama welcomes US 'fiscal cliff' resolution

Obama said Tuesday night's deal, which will see taxes raised for the wealthiest Americans and delays automatic $109bn budget cuts for two months, represented "just one step in the broader effort to strengthen the economy". He was speaking after the House of Representatives passed a Senate-backed bill by 257 votes to 167. It had been passed in the Senate less than 24 hours earlier by 89 votes to eight after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans. Had the deal failed to pass in the House, all Americans would have seen tax increases while government spen...