NO TAX VOTE IN HOUSE TONIGHT; US POISED TO GO OVER FISCAL CLIFF

As of early evening on New Year's Eve, negotiators had not yet reached a comprehensive deal to avert the combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that will take effect on Jan. 1. With the House adjourning, the government appears certain to go over the cliff, triggering automatic tax increases for all Americans and deep cuts in military and discretionary spending.

As the hours dwindled before the midnight deadline, talks between Senate Republicans and the Obama administration had failed to produce an accord. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said mid-afternoon that both sides were "very, very close" to an agreement and had, in fact, made a deal allowing taxes to rise on individual income over $400,000 per year, and household income of $450,000 per year.

The sticking point involved the "sequester," the automatic and swift cuts to spending that make up the second prong of the fiscal cliff. Republicans have signaled they might let the sequester take effect unless it was offset by other spending cuts; the GOP has also said it might accept a delay, but only for a few months.

Keep reading >>