Nearly 1 year after stroke, Kirk returns to Senate

(AP) ? Nearly a year after suffering a debilitating stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk walked the 45 steps up the Capitol on Thursday and reclaimed his seat in the U.S. Senate on the first day of the 113th Congress.

The Illinois Republican was greeted at the foot of the Capitol steps by an open-armed Vice President Joe Biden. With Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., at his side, and clutching a four-prong cane, Kirk climbed the steps to the Capitol's entrance to rousing applause from Senate colleagues, the Illinois congressional delegation and Capitol staff.

Kirk, 53, waved and smiled, pausing several times to greet well-wishers. "Feels great," he said, walking through the door.

Moments earlier, Kirk's return brought most of the Senate, many members of the House where Kirk once served and dozens of congressional aides to the steps of the Capitol. On a frigid, but clear and sunny day, they cheered as Kirk emerged from a sedan to find Biden awaiting him.

"Welcome back man!" Biden said.

Kirk smiled broadly, hugging the vice president.

"During the debate I was rooting for you," Kirk joked.

With Biden, Manchin ? Kirk's closest friend in the Senate ? and his Illinois colleague, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin nearby, Kirk mixed grimaces of concentration with smiles as he walked up the steps. "Go, Mark go," ''yeah Mark!" and "you're almost there!" fellow members of Congress cheered. Biden kept a steadying hand on Kirk as he climbed and Manchin lent a supporting arm around his waist. Kirk's ascent, with several pauses, took about 20 minutes.

As they neared the Senate, Biden told Kirk he could take all the time he wanted.

"I made the same walk," Biden said. He was referring to his own recuperation from brain aneurysms in 1988 and return to the Senate.

Walking past reporters, Kirk settled into a desk near the back of the chamber. One by one, fellow senators came to wish him well and Kirk chatted with the senator seated next to him, Republican John Hoeven of North Dakota. In a prayer that began Thursday's Senate session ? the first of the new Congress ? Senate Chaplain Barry Black expressed gratitude for Kirk's return.

Kirk's return followed a year of an intensive, experimental rehabilitation regimen that is often compared to military boot camp because of its intensity. Throughout the process, he updated constituents with video messages about his rehab and his official work. From Chicago, he held video conferences with his staff and worked to keep up to date on Senate business with an eye toward a return this year.

"I think I am more glad that he's back than he is," Manchin joked.

Durbin said he was thrilled to have Kirk back. "Fantastic," he said.

Kirk was all smiles, too.

"Good to see you," he said to a group of reporters waiting for him at the top of the Capitol steps.

Kirk keeps his seats on the Senate appropriations, banking and health-education-labor committees as well as the Special Committee on Aging. His term expires at the end of 2016.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-03-New%20Congress-Kirk's%20Return%201st%20Ld-Writethru/id-5c2fb3a7993342508038675c1de3c2f3

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Giant gas geysers erupt from Milky Way

Colossal magnetized fountains of gamma-ray-emitting gas are spewing from the center of our Milky Way galaxy, researchers say.

The amount of magnetic energy contained in these geyser-like outflows "corresponds to the energy liberated by about a million supernova explosions ? that is a lot!" study lead author Ettore Carretti, an astrophysicist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, told Space.com.

These outflows could help solve mysteries concerning the magnetic field of the Milky Way galaxy, Carretti added.

Past research detected regions, later called "Fermi bubbles," that emitted gamma rays far above and below the galactic center. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light.

To learn more about these Fermi bubbles, the researchers analyzed the parts of the sky including these regions using the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia as part of the S-band Polarization All Sky Survey (S-PASS). They detected giant outflows of gamma-ray-emitting gas, two cone-shaped lobes that combined are about 50,000 light-years long.

"That is about half the size of the entire Milky Way," Carretti said. Seen from Earth, the outflows stretch about two-thirds across the sky from horizon to horizon.

Each of these lobes is about 13,000 light-years wide, and made of gas traveling about 2.2 million mph (3.6 million kph). [ Amazing Milky Way Photos ]

"Beside the galactic disc, these are the largest structures ever discovered in our galaxy," Carretti said.

These outflows are about 100 million years old, and apparently spew mostly from supernovas within the compact 650-light-year-wide area surrounding the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way. Supernovas are the most powerful exploding stars in the universe, bright enough to momentarily outshine their entire galaxies.

"The compact region around the Milky Way's center harbors the most active star formation activity of our galaxy, and a number of supernova episodes occur there," Carretti said.

These outflows each hold a vast amount of magnetic energy, which helps explain why they glow with gamma rays.

"The gas expelled by supernova explosions is magnetized," Carretti said. "Moreover, all of the area of the galactic center possesses a strong magnetic field and the outflows, made of charged particles, can trap the magnetic field they are immersed in.

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"These findings tell us there is transport of a massive amount of energy and strong magnetic fields from ?the galactic center to the outskirts of the galaxy. It is an interaction we did not know about, and can transform our view of the galactic halo."

The galactic halo "was supposed to be a quiet place," Carretti said. "We now know it is continuously fueled with a massive amount of energy."

These cone-shaped outflows have denser ridges corkscrewing around their surfaces much like strings of lights wrapped around Christmas trees. These ridges are about 13,000 to 16,000 light-years long and 1,000 light-years wide.

"They are made of relativistic charged particles ? high-energy particles that move nearly at the speed of light," Carretti said.

One of these ridges, dubbed the Galactic Center spur, apparently stems from a super-stellar cluster orbiting the galaxy's center. Super-stellar clusters contain a very large number of young, massive stars.

These ridges take on a corkscrew form because matter spewing out from the spinning center of the galaxy moves in spirals. This is because of conservation of angular momentum, the same property that causes ice skaters to spin faster if they draw their arms in.

The other two ridges the researchers see are not connected to super-stellar clusters. The researchers suggest the clusters they originated from may no longer be active, thus shedding light on the history of star activity in the galactic core.

These outflows might help explain mysteries surrounding the galaxy's magnetic field.

"How the galactic magnetic field is generated and sustained is still a mystery, and our finding can be crucial to solve it," Carretti said. The outflows carry magnetic material from the galactic center to the galactic halo, helping to explain why a magnetic field pervades the galaxy, he said.

As monstrous as these outflows are, they are no danger to us, Carretti said. "They are not coming in our direction, but go up and down from the galactic plane. We are 30,000 light-years away from the galactic center, in the plane," he explained in a statement.

In the future, the researchers would like to identify the roots of the outflows and their ridges and investigate any connections between the magnetic fields of the outflows and the galaxy's.

The scientists will detail their findings in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Follow Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook? and ?Google+.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50347235/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Congress members want Shell barge investigated

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013. There's no indication of a fuel leak from Kulluk, the Coast Guard said Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2013, of a maritime accident that has refueled debate over oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013. There's no indication of a fuel leak from Kulluk, the Coast Guard said Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2013, of a maritime accident that has refueled debate over oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

A salvage team moves an emergency towing system across the deck of petroleum drilling ship Kulluk in this photo made Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, and provided by the U.S. Coast Guard. There's no indication of a fuel leak from Kulluk, the Coast Guard said Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2013, of a maritime accident that has refueled debate over oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

A photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows a salvage team wrapping up lines from an emergency towing system delivered to the deck of the petroleum drilling ship Kulluk Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, in the Gulf of Alaska. The grounding of the drill ship on a remote Alaska island has refueled the debate over oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

The Crowley Marine tugboat Alert ties up at Pier 2 at 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012 in Kodiak, Alaska. The Alert, normally based in Prince William Sound, was one of the tugs summoned to Kodiak in an effort to keep the drilling rig Kulluk from running aground. The Kulluk ran aground on New Year's Eve. (AP Photo/Kodiak Daily Mirror, James Brooks)

This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

(AP) ? Calls for federal scrutiny of Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling operations in Arctic waters swelled Thursday with a request for a formal investigation by members of Congress.

The House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition called on the Interior Department and the Coast Guard to jointly investigate the New Year's Eve grounding of the Shell drill vessel Kulluk on a remote Gulf of Alaska Island, and a previous incident connected to Arctic offshore drilling operations in 2012.

The coalition is made up of 46 House Democrats.

"The recent grounding of Shell's Kulluk oil rig amplifies the risks of drilling in the Arctic," they said in a joint statement. "This is the latest in a series of alarming blunders, including the near-grounding of another of Shell's Arctic drilling rigs, the 47-year-old Noble Discoverer, in Dutch Harbor and the failure of its blowout containment dome, the Arctic Challenger, in lake-like conditions."

The coalition believes these "serious incidents" warrant thorough investigation, the statement said.

Shell didn't immediately respond to the statement but has maintained the company can drill safely in the Arctic.

The Kulluk remains upright and intact along the shore of Sitkalidak Island, which is near the larger Kodiak Island. Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler flew over the vessel Wednesday and saw no indication of a fuel leak.

"There are still no signs of any sheen or environmental impact, and the Kulluk appears to be stable," Mehler said.

The Kulluk is a non-propelled, 266-foot diameter barge with a reinforced funnel-shaped hull designed to operate in ice. It is carrying more than 140,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube oil and hydraulic fluid. Centered on the vessel is a 160-foot derrick. It drilled during the short open-water season in the Beaufort Sea.

A 360-foot anchor handler, the Aiviq, was towing the Kulluk from Dutch Harbor to Seattle last week for maintenance and upgrades when the tow line snapped south of Kodiak. Lines were reattached at least four times but could not be maintained. A lone tugboat still attached Monday night in a vicious storm couldn't control the vessel and cut it loose as it neared land.

Mehler said he saw four lifeboats on the shoreline Wednesday but there was no indication that other debris had been ripped from the ship.

The flyover in rain and 35 mph winds showed a few birds but no marine mammals near the rig, said Steve Russell of the Environmental Conservation Department.

Also Wednesday, calmer weather allowed five salvage experts to be lowered by helicopter to the barge. They conducted a three-hour structural assessment. Mehler said the assessment team was working with salvage planners but it was too early to speculate on a timeline for moving the vessel.

After the grounding, critics quickly asserted it has foreshadowed what will happen north of the Bering Strait if drilling is allowed.

Environmentalists for years have said conditions are too harsh and the stakes too high to allow industrial development in the Arctic, where drilling sites are 1,000 miles or more from the closest Coast Guard base.

Two national organizations kept up the drumbeat Thursday by calling for a halt to all permitting for Arctic offshore drilling in the wake of the grounding.

"This string of mishaps by Shell makes it crystal clear that we are not ready to drill in the Arctic," said Chuck Clusen of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Shell is not Arctic-ready. We have lost all faith in Shell, and they certainly don't have any credibility left."

Lois Epstein, a civil engineer who works for The Wilderness Society in Anchorage, said Shell has made troubling, non-precautionary decisions that put workers and the Coast Guard at risk.

"These ongoing technical and decision-making problems and their enormous associated costs and risks taken by our military personnel once there were problems should lead the federal government to reassess its previous permitting decisions regarding Shell," Epstein said.

In the short term, she said, damage to the Kulluk may prevent it from being ready for the 2013 open water season. Besides drilling in the Beaufort, the barge was supposed to be on hand for drilling a relief well if Shell's drill vessel in the Chukchi Sea, the Noble Discoverer, experienced a wellhead blowout and was damaged, Epstein said.

Shell has maintained it has taken a heads-up approach to anticipating and reacting to problems.

Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith said Wednesday the Kulluk had been towed more than 4,000 miles and had previously experienced similar storm conditions. Shell staged additional towing vessels along the route in case there were problems, he said.

"We know how to work in regions like this," Smith said. "Having said that, when flawless execution does not happen, you learn from it, and we will."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-01-03-Shell-Arctic%20Drill%20Ship/id-bfff7517fd9e479eb1b2ee1fbe218329

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Rare Stephen King book for auction in Maine

FILE - This Dec. 7, 2012 file photo shows novelist Stephen King speaking to creative writing students at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in Lowell, Mass. A signed copy of a rare Stephen King book is up for auction at a Maine bookstore, with proceeds going to a nearby homeless shelter's emergency home heating fund. The copy of the ?The Regulators,? written by horror writer and Maine native King under the pen name Richard Bachman, was donated by a customer of Scottie's Bookhouse in Hancock, Maine. Owner Michael Riggs says there are only 550 copies of the book in a special collector's box. Auction proceeds will go to the Emmaus Homeless Shelter's emergency fuel fund in Ellsworth. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, file)

FILE - This Dec. 7, 2012 file photo shows novelist Stephen King speaking to creative writing students at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in Lowell, Mass. A signed copy of a rare Stephen King book is up for auction at a Maine bookstore, with proceeds going to a nearby homeless shelter's emergency home heating fund. The copy of the ?The Regulators,? written by horror writer and Maine native King under the pen name Richard Bachman, was donated by a customer of Scottie's Bookhouse in Hancock, Maine. Owner Michael Riggs says there are only 550 copies of the book in a special collector's box. Auction proceeds will go to the Emmaus Homeless Shelter's emergency fuel fund in Ellsworth. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, file)

(AP) ? A signed copy of a rare Stephen King book is up for auction at a Maine bookstore, with proceeds going to a nearby homeless shelter's emergency home heating fund.

The copy of "The Regulators," written by horror writer and Maine native King under the pen name Richard Bachman, was donated by a customer of Scottie's Bookhouse in Hancock.

Owner Michael Riggs says there are only 550 copies of the book in a special collector's box.

Auction proceeds will go to the Emmaus Homeless Shelter's emergency fuel fund in Ellsworth.

Emmaus director Sister Lucille MacDonald tells WABI-TV (http://bit.ly/RuFghD ) it's an "ingenious" way to help people struggling to buy heating oil.

The book is on display at Scottie's and bids are being accepted by email, phone and in person until Jan. 31.

___

Information from: WABI-AM, http://www.wabiam910.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-03-Stephen%20King%20Book/id-e7f40d6927684bbd9bb649ffd281dbca

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Childhood Friends or Osananajimi | Vocal Mimi

This thought just hit me so randomly that I have to write it down and tell you guys about it. It is one of the most clich? anime relationships but it has such a sweet feeling to it I don?t mind them overusing it. ?What?? You might ask me. Well, it is the deep bond between two people and (maybe) not (yet) in a relationship yet? Childhood friends.

Yeah... just ordinary childhood friends... Wait... oh.

Yeah? just ordinary childhood friends? Wait? oh.

According to Keima from The World Only God knows, a childhood friend has to be (pardon the awkward phrasing, it?s a translation)
The house next door ? which means very close
Onii-chan/Ototo Relationship ? which means very close friends
Yakusoku ? a promise made
Old memories ? having a common memories.
TAchiba ? a complete change in positions, the giant change between the old times.

And if you're lucky, that friendship blossoms into love. Sometimes. Rarely.

And if you?re lucky, that friendship blossoms into love. Sometimes. Rarely.

Well these are definitely not the exact definition but a mere Otakus dream of having a close (female) friend. But to a certain extent this is correct. So to begin, I?ll start with the anime version of a ?childhood friend? and move on to the (sadly) more realistic real life version.

Where do we usually find childhood friends and what kind of relationships do they usually share? In almost any anime from slice-of-life to action to drama to harems, you can find them. The relationships they share are even more varied, one sided loves, mutual respect, friends who fell out the list goes on and on.

Platonic love. Also known as  the dreaded friendzone.

Platonic love. Also known as the dreaded friendzone.

So other than Keima?s weird definition of childhood friends, what is the ?official? way to say they are childhood friends? (By official I mean my opinion) Simple, if the anime premise mentions it or the characters say it themselves or you get a childhood flashback, they?re childhood friends. We just leave it to the anime or that form of fiction to determine it for us.

But that friendship can shadow a tragedy or sadness.

But that friendship can shadow a tragedy or sadness.

But why does having a childhood friend (who?s preferably a female) such a craved things among Otakus? Maybe it?s the way anime displays it and it strikes a perfect harmonized chord with a fetish that they posses or it?s really nice to share a platonic relationship with someone of the opposite sex? Nah.

Plus with the premise of childhood friend added in, it saves the writers of the story quite a lot of hassle. You want to add in a fanservicy scene of the guy awkwardly walking in on the girl and after that they both shower together. Explanation? They?re childhood friends. So not only does it please the viewers, it saves you time and trouble, rather convenient I might add.

On the topic of fanservice. By the way, that girl you might be looking for could be looking for you as well

On the topic of fanservice. By the way, that girl you might be looking for could be looking for you as well

With the simple premise of ?childhood friends? it gives you the convenience to steer the story quickly and save time on all the drama of both parties getting to know each other. You can save 5 episodes used for them to be on good friend terms and move into drama and making the show more ?exciting? to the general public. Why the inverted commas? Because some people just don?t like drama. But at the same time, it can be used for drama and tragedies, it?s one thing losing a close friend, another thing losing a friend of 10 years, as AnoHana shows how it can affect people.

I personally enjoy a little bit of drama. Seeing I already get so much of it

I personally enjoy a little bit of drama. Seeing I already get so much of it

Real life now. We all should have friends when we were kids right? So technically we can call them childhood friends right? But what age does it count as that a ?childhood friend?? If we go by the anime term and assume it means preschool (5-6 years old), then the actual chances of you still being in touch with these friends is quite low seeing the kind of society we live in this days. So I guess that could be the reason why Otakus crave for a childhood friend so much. Because I barely did have a childhood when I was younger, let alone made friends and kept in touch with them.

But the big rule is... how long you've been friends is in no way a gauge of how good friends you can be.

But the big rule is? how long you?ve been friends is in no way a gauge of how good friends you can be.

Though can we say that there is a distinct difference in the way we see childhood friends as compared to other good friends? The only thing I can think of is that you would understand your childhood friend better seeing how long you have been hanging out with them, but there are always outliers to this kind of situations as you can understand a lot about a person without spending like 8 years together if you *ahem* share certain experiences together. (See how I made that into a sexual innuendo?)

Like watching each other get dumped etc. What were you thinking?

Like watching each other get dumped etc. What were you thinking?

Honestly, in my personal opinion, anime does have certain truth to the relationship that childhood friends have with each other. The way that male and females can get rough with each other and it seem seemingly find or how both parties understand each other really well and know when to assist each other. Or it could be nothing more than a figment of my wishful thinking. But still, I find that childhood friends help to emphasise reliability in a relationship and how you know who to go to when you have problems. But remember that there is really hardly any difference between childhood friends and normal ones, so have fun with everyone together and I wish you a Happy 2013.

I have no idea where this is from, but it gets the idea across

I have no idea where this is from, but it gets the idea across

Source: http://vocalmimi.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/childhood-friends-or-osananajimi/

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Cyborg cockroach obeys your tweets

6 hrs.

An artist outfitted a cockroach with a special high-tech backpack that allows its movements to be controlled ? by anyone. Anyone on Twitter, that is. For a period,?eager tweeters were able to direct the roach's behavior with nothing more than a few keystrokes.

The backpack is a modification of a RoboRoach kit, which you can buy for $100 from Backyard Brains. It essentially replaces the natural electrical?signals from the roach's antennae with signals provided by a circuit board. The user gives the cockroach the impression that?one of its antennae has been touched, so it moves in the opposite direction. (The "surgery" to implant it is interesting, but not for the squeamish.)

Brittany Ransom, an artist based in?Dallas, Texas, added a new feature: A Twitter account. During short, designated times, people can tweet at the?@TweetRoach?account?with a special hashtag that?sends a signal to the backpack, telling the cyber-roach to go in the direction indicated. In order to preserve the roach's insectile sanity, commands only come every 30 seconds, no matter how frequent the tweeting is.

But this isn't just?some form of?wanton cruelty directed at everyone's least favorite bug. The goal of the project is to explore whether the creature could learn to ignore the frequent and confusing instructions being sent by the backpack, and cease being controlled at all.

Ransom notes on the project page that more information about the project and her custom roach rig will be available soon.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/cyborg-cockroach-obeys-your-tweets-1C7786306

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Buying a Classic Car Just Got a Easier - at Barrett Jackson Auction ...

Fiscal cliff tumble looms despite Senate efforts

By Richard Cowan and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States was on track to tumble over the "fiscal cliff" at midnight on Monday, at least for a day, as lawmakers held back from supporting an eleventh-hour plan from Senate leaders to avert severe tax increases and spending cuts.

The U.S. House of Representatives looked unlikely to vote on a Senate "fiscal cliff" plan before midnight, possibly pushing a legislative decision into New Year's Day, when financial markets will be closed.

The plan was heavy on tax increases and light on spending cuts, which was unlikely to appeal to Republicans in the House.

It would raise income taxes on high-income Americans, but leave taxes at current levels for the middle class, a key goal of President Barack Obama.

But there was discontent among Senate Democrats worried that the proposal did not go far enough in taxing the rich. The Democrats asked for a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden to have him explain the talks he was having with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"The caucus as a whole is not sold" on the plan, said a Senate Democratic aide. "We just don't have the votes for it."

If Congress fails to act, about $600 billion in tax increases - much steeper than those in the Senate plan - and government-wide spending cuts will begin taking effect after midnight, harsh measures that could lead to a recession.

But lawmakers could still vote for a deal on New Year's Day or later and prevent the worst of the fiscal cliff effects.

The House expects to reconvene on Tuesday at noon, Republican Representative Steven LaTourette said. He added that House members had been told to stay close on Monday evening and that they may be called back to continue negotiations.

Under the Senate plan, income above $450,000 per household or $400,000 per individual would be taxed at 39.6 percent, up from 35 percent. Income up to those levels would be taxed at the current, reduced tax rates put in place under former President George W. Bush.

The Senate plan would raise estate taxes on inherited wealth and permanently fix the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, so that it did not threaten each year to sweep in millions of middle-income Americans for whom it was not intended.

The plan also postpones for two months the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts in defense and domestic programs that are part of the fiscal cliff, Senator John McCain said.

SENATE DEMOCRATS UNSURE

Some Senate Democrats did not like the $450,000 threshold for raising taxes on the rich - they wanted $250,000 - or the higher threshold for raising estate taxes. Democrats also are upset there is no agreement yet to put off the first round of $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts.

Republicans already are pushing for switching those across-the-board cuts to savings in the Medicare and Social Security healthcare and retirement programs and threatening to block a debt limit increase in February unless they get their way. But that is a fight that would most likely play out in January and February.

Some Senate Democrats aides were dispirited that Biden, a fellow Democrat, had gone further than they wanted in the fiscal cliff talks, just as he did in December 2010 when all Bush tax cuts were extended for two years.

Shortly after the plan emerged, Obama said agreement was within sight, but he sounded a cautious note.

"There are still issues to resolve, but we're hopeful that Congress can get it done, but it's not done," Obama, a Democrat, said at a White House event.

U.S. stocks rose on the day, with the market closing before the latest news broke about the House not voting. The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average closed up 1.3 percent at 13,104.

Even if the country tumbles over the cliff, legislative action afterward could soften the blow.

Final legislation can be backdated to January 1, for instance, said law firm K&L Gates partner Mary Burke Baker, who spent decades at the Internal Revenue Service.

"The important date is the date in the legislative language ... no matter what day the Senate or House pass the law, or the date the president signs it," she said.

Former Obama administration Treasury Department tax official Michael Mundaca agreed, although he said there would likely be delays in filing for many taxpayers as the IRS gets its computers into gear.

A deal on Tuesday will likely leave unsolved the issue of the "debt ceiling," which caps how much debt the federal government can hold.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to congressional leaders that the government would suspend some investments in pension and health benefit funds for federal workers beginning on Monday in a move that allows it to keep borrowing for the meantime.

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Tabassum Zakaria, Kim Dixon, Jeff Mason, Rachelle Younglai and David Morgan, Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fiscal-deal-stalls-clock-ticks-000951099.html

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