What is the “fiscal cliff?”
The phrase refers to a series of tax increases and spending cuts that would kick in next year unless Congress and the White House strike a deal to avoid them. Income and payroll taxes, among others, would increase. More than $1 trillion in spending would be cut, much of it from the defense budget. Analysts say going off the cliff would devastate the economy, but Republicans and Democrats so far can’t agree on how to prevent it.
Will former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown make a political comeback?
He can’t. A new ethics law, which Brown backed, prevents felons from seeking local office. Brown pleaded guilty to a felony bank fraud charge in June and resigned. Also barred from running again: ex-Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., who pleaded guilty to felony charges of stealing from a children’s sports program. Still eligible to run: Councilman Marion Barry. The former mayor was convicted of misdemeanor drug charges in an FBI sting in 1990, but escaped felony charges.
Is Iran developing nuclear weapons?
Iran’s first nuclear power plant went online last September. Two months later, the International Atomic Energy Agency accused Iran of working secretly to develop a nuclear bomb. The U.S. and its European allies began pressuring Iran to abandon its pursuit of nukes. Iran denies the charges. It insists its nuclear program, begun in the 1950s with help from the U.S., is strictly peaceful.
