Canada says “significant risks” remain in U.S. after fiscal deal

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada‘s finance minister on Wednesday welcomed the U.S. “fiscal cliff” agreement, but warned that significant risks remain and urged more action to put the U.S. fiscal situation on a sustainable path.

“Canada welcomes the agreement reached between the president and the Congress that protects the U.S. economy in the short term,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement.

“That said, there remain a number of significant risks to the U.S. economic outlook. It is my hope that leaders in the United States continue to work together to develop future action that will put the U.S. fiscal position on a sustainable path,” he said.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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What the “Fiscal Cliff” Bill Means to Taxpayers

The Senate passed a deal to address the so-called “fiscal cliff” 90 minutes after the midnight deadline by a vote of 89 to 8. The bill then moved to the House of Representatives, which passed the measure 257-167 late Tuesday night.

In addition to the tax changes, the Senate and House agreed to a two-month delay in addressing $ 110 billion in government spending cuts (aka the “sequester”), which were due to go into effect Jan. 2. Some government agencies had already made arrangements to comply with the cuts, not knowing whether or not a deal would occur.

The plan would raise roughly $ 600 billion in taxes over 10 years, far less than the more than $ 2 trillion in revenue initially discussed by President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.

According to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, the Congressional Budget Office scoring of the bill projects a $ 329 billion increase in deficit in 2013; $ 3.9 trillion over 10 years.

Whose taxes are going up?

All wage-earners: For the past two tax years, 160 million American employees’ contributions to the Social Security program was 4.2 percent, down from 6.2 percent (this comes on the FICA line item of a paystub) on earnings up to $ 110,100 in 2012 and on earnings up to $ 113,700 in 2013. Despite legislative back-slapping about “preventing tax increases for the middle class”, the average U.S. household that earns $ 50,000, will pay an extra $ 1,000 in taxes in 2013. For an individual earning the maximum 2013 cap of $ 113,700 or more, the increase would be $ 2,274, or nearly $ 200 per month.

Just before midnight, the Internal Revenue Service issued new withholding tables for 2013 reflecting the expiration of the 2001-3 tax cuts and the two-percentage point Social Security tax cut, but the IRS noted that the tables might change given pending legislation.

• Annual income up to $ 113,700

• Cost to individuals: 2 percent of income to a maximum of $ 2,274

• Average HH cost (50K/yr): $ 1,000

• When will impact be felt?: Up to 4 weeks after bill is passed

Wealthy earners: Individuals who earn more than $ 400,000 and couples who make more than $ 450,000 will see tax rates increase from 35 to 39.6 percent. Those income levels are up from Mr. Obama’s levels of $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 and down from Boehner’s $ 1,000,000 proposed threshold. Capital gains and dividends will rise to 20 percent from the current 15 percent for the same income thresholds. In addition to the capital gain and dividend rates, health care reform will levy a new surtax of 3.8 percent on capital gains for wealthy Americans, pushing up the top capital gains rate to 23.8 percent.

The Personal Exemption Phaseout (PEP) and the itemized deduction limit are set at $ 250,000 for singles and $ 300,000 for joint filers. These rules are meant to reduce or eliminate the value of personal exemptions for taxpayers earning more than the income threshold. The effect of the reinstatement of the limits amounts would increase taxes by just over 1 percent to the top tax rate as well as on capital gains rates.

• What’s wealthy? The bill does not say whether the $ 400K/$ 450,000 threshold refers to adjusted gross income (AGI) or taxable income. AGI doesn’t include subtractions for itemized deductions, while taxable income does.

• Marginal tax bracket: Rises to 39.6% from 35%

• Capital gains rate and dividend tax rate: Rises to 20% from 15%

• Total capital gains and dividend rate for 2013, including ACA sur-tax: 23.8%

• PEP/Itemized deduction limits: $ 250,000 for singles and $ 300,000 for joint filers

What’s extended?

Long-term unemployment benefits: At the beginning of the Great Recession, Congress enacted a temporary supplement to state-based unemployment insurance programs, which usually pay benefits for 6 months. The measure will be extended for one year, preserving benefits for 2 million Americans who were at risk for losing benefits at year-end.

Tax credits for low to middle wage earners: Among these provisions are the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Obama Opportunity Tax Credit (college tuition credits), deductions for $ 250 of teachers’ classroom expenses; allowance of taxpayers to choose paying state sales taxes in lieu of state income taxes; a conservation donation benefit; and the direct charitable contribution of up to $ 100,000 of IRA assets for people 70 1/2 and older will all be extended for five more years.

Of these credits, the following are seen as the most valuable to low to middle wage earners:

– The Child Tax Credit is up to $ 1,000 for each qualifying child who was under the age of 17 at the end of 2012. This credit can be claimed in addition to the credit for child and dependent care expenses, but phases out for married couples who earn over $ 110,000 and single filers who earn more than $ 75,000. (Details are in IRS Publication 972.)

– The Child and Dependent Care Credit is available if you pay someone to care for your dependent who is under age 13, so that you can work or look for a job. The credit is 20 to 35 percent of your child-care expenses up to $ 6,000 — the size of your credit depends on your income. This credit will be reduced significantly next year. (Details are in IRS Publication 503.)

– The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable credit for married couples filing jointly with 2012 earned income under $ 50,270 and singles who made less than $ 45,060. The more children you have, the more money you receive. Your income and family size determine the amount of the credit, but the maximum credit is $ 5,891 this year. The income thresholds for this credit have increased over the past decade, and the maximum credit has increased since the recession. Next year, both phaseout limits and credit amounts will revert back to lower levels. (Details are in IRS Publication 596.)

– The American Opportunity Tax Credit was set to expire at the end of 2010, but was then extended for an additional two years through December 2012 by the Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2010. The new credit makes the Hope Credit for higher education expenses available to a broader range of taxpayers, including many with higher incomes and those who owe no tax. It also adds required course materials to the list of qualifying expenses and allows the credit to be claimed for four post-secondary education years instead of two. The full maximum annual credit of $ 2,500 per student is available to individuals, whose modified adjusted gross income is $ 80,000 or less, or $ 160,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with incomes above these levels.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT): AMT was created in 1969 to ensure that wealthy taxpayers pay at least some minimum amount of federal income tax, regardless of deductions, credits or exemptions. In essence, it is a flat tax with two brackets, 26 percent and 28 percent. Under the new deal, Congress has finally created a permanent inflation “patch” that would allow millions to escape AMT. Without the patch, the AMT would have hit 31 million taxpayers this year, reaching deeply into the middle class.

Certain business tax credits: There would be a one year extension of Research and Experimentation Tax Credit and Production Tax Credit and an extension of the 50 percent bonus depreciation rules, applicable to a wide variety of property and equipment, excluding real estate.

Medicare payments to doctors: Congress agreed to a one year extension of current Medicare reimbursement rates, shielding participating doctors from a potential 27 percent cut in reimbursements.

Even with a deal in place to avoid the cliff, however, the political debate over deficit-reduction is certain to continue. The U.S. Treasury Department notified Congress that the country hit its legal borrowing limit of $ 16.39 trillion — the so-called “debt ceiling” — on the last day of 2012. That could set the stage for a replay of the 2011 political brouhaha over government borrowing that, in putting off the toughest decisions on fiscal policy, led the U.S. to the edge of the fiscal cliff.

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Wall Street starts 2013 with a rally on "cliff" agreement

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on the year's first day of trading, after Washington lawmakers cut a last-minute deal to avert automatic tax hikes that threatened to stunt economic growth.

With the gains, the S&P 500 was on target for its highest close since October 19.

The rally was broad-based, with nine stocks rising for every one falling on the New York Stock Exchange. All 10 S&P 500 industry sector indexes rose at least 1 percent, led by the S&P financial index <.gspf>, up 2.2 percent.

The S&P Information Technology index <.gspt> gained 2.1 percent. Among the strongest names in the sector was Hewlett-Packard , which climbed nearly 5 percent to $14.95. HP's gain followed a miserable 2012, when the stock fell nearly 45 percent.

On New Year's Day, while the U.S. stock market was closed, Congress passed a bill to raise taxes on wealthy individuals and families, and preserve certain benefits, while avoiding immediate austerity measures. The combination of mandatory tax hikes and reduced federal spending, which had been set to go into effect on January 1, had been known as the "fiscal cliff.

"We had three choices: We were going to be off the cliff, we were going to be on the cliff, or we were going to avoid the cliff, and we avoided it," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago.

"There's a relief rally, some progress because we raised revenue, but I think it's going to be short-lived because the relief rally today was created by politics, and the next cliff is going to be created by politics."

The vote avoided income-tax hikes for all U.S. households, but failed to resolve other political budget showdowns. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were delayed for just two months, as another fight over the U.S. debt limit also looms then.

The market's surge was due to "the concrete news as opposed to a lack of specific news" that was common during the negotiations, said Stephen Carl, head of U.S. equity trading at The Williams Capital Group in New York.

U.S. stocks ended 2012 with the S&P 500 up 13.4 percent for the year, as investors largely shrugged off worries about the fiscal cliff. For the year, the Dow gained 7.3 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 15.9 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 223.60 points, or 1.71 percent, to 13,327.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> advanced 24.61 points, or 1.73 percent, to 1,450.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> climbed 66.87 points, or 2.21 percent, at 3,086.38.

Bank shares rose following news that U.S. regulators are close to securing another multibillion-dollar settlement with the largest banks to resolve allegations that they unlawfully cut corners when foreclosing on delinquent borrowers.

Bank of America Corp rose 3.4 percent to $11.99 and Wells Fargo shares added 2 percent to $34.87. JPMorgan Chase & Co shares rose 1.5 percent to $44.34.

Shares of Zipcar Inc jumped 48.4 percent to $12.23 after Avis Budget Group Inc said it would buy Zipcar for about $500 million in cash to compete with larger rivals Hertz and Enterprise Holdings Inc. Avis rose 4.5 percent to $20.72.

Shares of Apple rose 2.4 percent to $545, boosting technology stocks, following a report that the most valuable tech company has started testing a new iPhone and a new version of its iOS software. Apple stocks struggled in the final weeks of 2012 before a rally to end the year.

U.S. manufacturing expanded slightly in December after an unexpected November contraction, an Institute for Supply Management report showed on Wednesday.

A Commerce Department report showed U.S. construction spending fell in November for the first time in eight months, as an extended bout of weakness in the business sector outweighed modest growth in outlays on residential projects.

The stock market's reaction to both reports was muted.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

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Ray Lewis to retire after playoffs

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Ray Lewis will end his brilliant 17-year NFL career after the Baltimore Ravens complete their 2013 playoff run.

Lewis has been sidelined since Oct. 14 with a torn right triceps. The 13-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker intends to return Sunday to face the Indianapolis Colts in what will almost certainly be his final home game.

"I talked to my team today," Lewis said Wednesday. "I talked to them about life in general. And everything that starts has an end. For me, today, I told my team that this will be my last ride."

Lewis will walk away from the game because he wants to spend more time with his two sons. While working to return from his injury, Lewis watched them play on the same high school football team, and he intends to watch Ray Lewis III perform as a freshman next year for his alma mater, the University of Miami.

"God is calling," the 37-year-old Lewis said. "My children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father for 17 years. I don't want to see them do that no more. I've done what I wanted to do in this business, and now it's my turn to give them something back."

Which means he'll pull off his No. 52 uniform for the last time after the Ravens are eliminated or win the Super Bowl.

"It's either hold onto the game and keep playing and let my kids miss out on times we can be spending together," Lewis said. "Because I always promised my son if he got a full ride on scholarship Daddy is going to be there. I can't miss that."

Lewis was the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 2000, when Baltimore won the Super Bowl title, and in 2003.

"I never played the game for individual stats. I only played the game to make my team a better team," he said.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Time to rebrand in Lincoln's image?

Wade Henderson thinks the modern Republican Party should look to Abraham Lincoln for some inspiration.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Wade Henderson: January 1 is 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation


• He says GOP should look to Lincoln, a canny politician who led moral fight on civil rights


• He says GOP has history of civil rights support that it has largely abandoned in recent years


• Henderson: In 2012, election minority voters unimpressed; GOP should return to roots

Editor's note: Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

(CNN) -- On January 1, the nation will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which legally freed slaves in the secessionist Southern states. Meanwhile, thousands of theaters will still be presenting the film "Lincoln," portraying the soon-to-be-martyred president's efforts in January 1865 to persuade the House of Representatives to pass the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery throughout the nation.

Coming at a time when many Republicans are seeking to rebrand their party, these commemorations of the first Republican president raise this question: Why not refashion the Grand Old Party in the image of the Great Emancipator?

Steven Spielberg's historical drama, as well as the biography upon which it is based, Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," both remind today's Americans that Lincoln was not only a moral leader but also a practical politician. The political identity that Lincoln forged for the fledgling Republican Party -- uniting the nation while defending individual rights -- was a winning formula for half a century, with the GOP winning 11 of 13 presidential elections from 1860 through 1908.

Wade Henderson

Moreover, support for civil rights persisted in the party throughout the last century. Among the Republican presidents of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt famously hosted Booker T. Washington at the White House. Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school desegregation. Richard Nixon expanded affirmative action. And George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.

Brazile: A turning point for freedom in America, 150 years later

In the U.S. Senate, such prominent Republicans as Edward Brooke of Massachusetts (the first African-American senator since Reconstruction), Jacob Javits of New York and Everett Dirksen of Illinois were strong supporters of civil rights, as were governors such as Nelson Rockefeller in New York, George Romney in Massachusetts and William Scranton in Pennsylvania.

Former California Gov. Earl Warren served as chief justice when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, ordering the desegregation of the nation's schools. As recently as 1996, the Republican national ticket consisted of two strong civil rights advocates, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and former New York Rep. Jack Kemp.

Unfortunately, by 2012, the Republican Party had veered far from its heritage as the party of Lincoln. Prominent Republicans supported statewide voter suppression laws that hit hardest at vulnerable minorities or called for the "self-deportation" of immigrants and their families.

While some Republican senatorial nominees needlessly offended women, leading moderates such as Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe and Ohio Rep. Steven LaTourette opted for retirement. In what I hope was rock bottom, 38 Senate Republicans rebuffed their former presidential nominee Bob Dole -- a wheelchair-bound war hero -- to block an international civil and human rights treaty for people with disabilities.

Not surprisingly, the GOP in the presidential race lost the black vote by 87 points, the Asian-American vote by 47 points, the Latino vote by 44 points and the women's vote by 11 points, according to CNN exit polls. As Republicans reflect on their path forward with minority voters and persuadable whites, there are opportunities to advance civil rights.

While the GOP has increasingly promoted diverse candidates, it has not yet begun to reflect the values of our diverse nation. Fiscally conservative officeholders can fight for civil and human rights.

Just a few years ago, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions championed a reduction in the sentencing disparity between people charged with possession of crack and powder cocaine. These are two forms of the same drug, but crack cocaine is used more by minorities and carried much harsher punishments for possession. Working with Sessions, civil rights advocates pushed to reduce this disparity significantly -- among the greatest advances in criminal justice reform in decades.

Looking toward to the 113th Congress, several civil rights initiatives would fit conservative values. They need congressional champions. Conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist and conservative strategist Richard Viguerie have called for criminal justice reforms that would reduce the number of prisoners in U.S. prisons.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined the civil rights coalition's call for federal initiatives to narrow the educational achievement gap between minority and white students. And more Republicans are joining Jeb Bush's support for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for long-term, law-abiding residents.

Most importantly, the GOP must embrace one of Lincoln's most enduring legacies, the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote regardless of race. The GOP must stop trying to suppress voters and begin to champion electoral reform that shortens lines and helps more people to vote.

I don't expect another Abraham Lincoln or Frederick Douglass from the modern Republican Party -- I'll settle for a few more Jeff Sessions. When Republicans consider the consequences for their party's narrow appeal, they'll try to return to their roots.

I'm happy to help.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Wade Henderson.

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Paparazzo killed on freeway after photographing Justin Bieber’s car

(Reuters) – A celebrity photographer was struck and killed by a car on a Los Angeles highway on Tuesday after snapping photographs of a Ferrari registered to pop star Justin Bieber, police said.

Bieber wasn’t in his car, which had been pulled over by California Highway Patrol officers on Interstate 405 for suspected speeding, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Cleon Joseph said on Wednesday.

Highway patrol officers saw the 29-year-old paparazzo taking photographs of the scene on Tuesday evening and ordered him to return to his car for safety reasons, Joseph said.

The photographer, whose name was not released, refused to leave. After officers repeated their order, he was struck while trying to cross four lanes of traffic, Joseph said.

Charges were unlikely to be filed against the driver who struck the photographer, the officer said.

Bieber was stopped by police for speeding on a Los Angeles freeway last July. He told officers he was being hounded by paparazzi at the time.

Prosecutors charged a celebrity photographer under a California law that criminalizes dangerous driving when taking photos commercially, but a judge later dismissed those counts.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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UK assumes presidency of G8 group

31 December 2012 Last updated at 22:18 ET

The UK is assuming its year-long presidency of the G8 group of nations.

The presidency – which rotates through the G8 members – means it will host the annual leaders’ summit and choose the global priorities that are discussed.

June’s summit is to be held at Lough Erne, in County Fermanagh, while topics discussed will include tax havens.

The G8 is made up countries who have, historically, been the richest in the world – France, the US, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada and the UK.

As prime minister of the presidency holding nation, David Cameron has said he wants to focus on combating trade protectionism, cracking down on tax havens and promoting greater government transparency.

These topics will be discussed in ministerial meetings ahead of the summit along with urgent issues like the crisis in Syria.

Although G8 summits are renowned for fine communiques, the group increasingly suffers from a credibility problem – some of the world’s largest economies like China, India and Brazil are not members, says BBC world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan.

Our correspondent also adds that organisers will at least be hoping the June summit will be trouble-free.

The last time the UK was the host in 2005, in Gleneagles, more than 200,000 people marched against world poverty.

The proceedings were then overshadowed by the 7/7 bus and underground bombings in London.

Mr Cameron announced in November that the G8 summit would be held at the Lough Erne golf resort near Enniskillen.

It is the first time an event of this size has been held in Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the time, the prime minister said: “I want the world to see just what a fantastic place Northern Ireland is – a great place for business, a great place for investment, a place with an incredibly educated and trained workforce ready to work for international business.

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Smoking Ban Includes Electronic Cigarettes, South Beach Smoke Wants More People Educated

MIAMI, FL–(Marketwire – January 01, 2013) - The town of Great Barrington, MA has expanded its anti-smoking ordinance to include electronic cigarettes.

An electronic cigarette resembles a cigarette but delivers nicotine in a vapor form rather than smoke. So why ban it if doesn’t cause the same harmful side effects as a traditional cigarette?

The purpose of the town’s updated smoking ordinance is to ensure that they stay up to date with the latest trends.

“The purpose of this was to update a 12-year-old regulation and stay ahead of the curve with electronic cigarettes and smoking [in] bars,” said Health Director Mark Pruhenski.

South Beach Smoke, a popular electronic cigarette company, disagrees with the newly included e-Cigs being placed into the smoking ban ordinance. A South Beach Smoke electronic cigarette contains no tobacco, smoke, tar or carcinogens – the most detrimental components of standard cigarettes. This means, not only can smokers enjoy the experience they crave but they can do so without the life threatening side effects and secondhand smoke intruding on others.

“Including e-Cigs in this ordinance says two things about electronic cigarettes. One, that they are becoming more popular. And two, people aren’t as educated on e-Cigs as they should be,” said a representative from South Beach Smoke.

The South Beach Smoke Electronic Cigarette Deluxe Starter Kit comes equipped with an electronic cigarette standard ion battery and an extra capacity battery, five nicotine cartridges, and a portable wall charger. The kit is built with superior 2-part technology of battery and atomizer and cartridges and filter. The battery and atomizer ensure a satisfying smoking experience that produces 250 puffs per charge. The nicotine cartridges produce maximum vapor after each and every puff. The nicotine cartridges come in 10 delicious flavors such as, Classic Tobacco, Tobacco Blue, Tobacco Golden, Menthol, Peppermint, Vanilla, Chocolate, Cherry, Peach and Piña Colada. Each set of cartridges are also available in four nicotine strengths:  Full Flavored (18mg), Light (12mg), Ultra-Light (6mg) and No Nicotine.

As a leading provider of electronic cigarettes, and consistently ranked #1 on numerous review sites, South Beach Smoke’s products are high quality, affordable and customer service is a top priority. For more information about purchasing a starter kit, visit http://www.southbeachsmoke.com.

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Senate approves "fiscal cliff" deal, crisis eased

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's last-minute scramble to step back from a recession-inducing "fiscal cliff" shifted to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday after the Senate approved a bipartisan deal to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts.

In a rare late-night show of unity, the Senate voted 89 to 8 to raise some taxes on the wealthy while keeping income taxes low on more moderate income voters.

The bill's prospects were less certain in the House, where a vote had not yet been scheduled. Many conservative Republicans have rejected tax increases on any Americans, no matter how wealthy. Some liberal Democrats were also upset with a complex deal that they thought gave away too much.

Lingering uncertainty over U.S. tax and spending policy has unnerved investors and depressed business activity for months, and lawmakers had hoped to reach a deal before Tuesday, when a broad range of automatic tax increases and spending cuts would begin to punch a $600 billion hole in the economy.

Financial markets have avoided a steep plunge on the assumption that Washington would ultimately avoid pushing the country off the fiscal cliff into a recession.

With financial markets closed for the New Year's Day holiday, lawmakers have one more day to close the deal.

"My district cannot afford to wait a few days and have the stock market go down 300 points tomorrow if we don't get together and do something," Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, said on the House floor.

The bill passed by the Senate at around 2 a.m. would raise income taxes on families earning more than $450,000 per year. Low temporary rates that have been in place for less affluent taxpayers for the past decade would be made permanent, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place by President Barack Obama in the depths of the 2009 recession.

However, workers would see up to $2,000 more taken out of their paychecks as a temporary payroll tax cut was set to expire.

The bill would also delay an across-the-board 8 percent spending cut to domestic and military programs for two months, and extend jobless benefits for 2 million people who otherwise would see them run out.

Obama in a statement on Monday urged the House to vote. "There's more work to do to reduce our deficits, and I'm willing to do it," he said.

Republicans had hoped to include significant spending cuts in the deal to narrow trillion-dollar budget deficits. Conservatives were already looking forward to the next battle over the debt ceiling, in late February, to extract deficit reduction measures from the Democratic president.

Vice President Joe Biden, who was instrumental in pushing through the Senate measure, was scheduled to address a closed-door meeting of House Democrats. Their support likely will be needed to pass the bill.

Republican members were to meet to discuss "a path forward," a senior aide said.

The meeting could help Republicans leaders decide when to begin consideration of the White House-backed measure. A vote could come later in the day, but was not yet scheduled.

The conservative Club for Growth urged a "no" vote on the Senate measure, saying it would be on its "congressional scorecard" used to challenge members of Congress.

Liberal groups also have urged Democrats to reject the deal.

Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO labor union, wrote on Twitter that the deal does not raise taxes enough on the wealthy and "sets the stage for more hostage taking" by Republicans in future budget confrontations.

Republican Representative Tom Cole said his House colleagues should pass the Senate bill rather than try to change it.

"We ought to take this deal right now, and we'll live to fight another day," Cole said on MSNBC. "Putting to bed this thing before the markets (open on Wednesday) is really a pretty important thing to do."

(Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Fred Barbash and Vicki Allen)

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Reid among 7 NFL coaches sacked in firing frenzy

Andy Reid is the winningest coach in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. Lovie Smith led the Chicago Bears to the 2007 Super Bowl.

Now they're looking for work.

Seven coaches and five general managers were fired Monday in a flurry of pink slips that were delivered the day after the regular-season ended.

Ken Whisenhunt is out after helping Arizona reach the Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Also gone: Norv Turner in San Diego, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland, Romeo Crennel in Kansas City and Chan Gailey in Buffalo.

Three teams made it a clean sweep, saying goodbye to the GM along with the coach — San Diego, Cleveland, Arizona. General managers also were fired in Jacksonville and New York, where Rex Ryan held onto his coaching job with the Jets despite a losing record.

Reid was the longest tenured of the coaches, removed after 14 seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in 2005 — a loss to New England. Smith spent nine seasons with the Bears.

Turner has now been fired as head coach by three teams. San Diego won the AFC West from 2006-09, but didn't make the postseason the last three years under Turner and GM A.J. Smith.

"Both Norv and A.J. are consummate NFL professionals, and they understand that in this league, the bottom line is winning," Chargers President Dean Spanos said in a statement.

Whisenhunt was fired after six seasons. He had more wins than any other coach in Cardinals history, going 45-51, and has one year worth about $5.5 million left on his contract. GM Rod Graves had been with Arizona for 16 years, nine in his current position. A 5-11 record after a 4-0 start cost him and Whisenhunt their jobs.

Gailey was dumped after three seasons with the Bills; Shurmur after two; and Crennel had one full season with the Chiefs.

Reid took over a 3-13 Eagles team in 1999, drafted Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick and quickly turned the franchise into a title contender.

But the team hasn't won a playoff game since 2008 and after last season's 8-8 finish, owner Jeffrey Lurie said he was looking for improvement this year. Instead, it was even worse. The Eagles finished 4-12.

"When you have a season like that, it's embarrassing. It's personally crushing to me and it's terrible," Lurie said at a news conference. He said he respects Reid and plans to stay friends with him, "but, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction."

Shurmur went 9-23 in his two seasons with the Browns, who will embark on yet another offseason of change — the only constant in more than a decade of futility. Cleveland has lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs just once since returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999.

"Ultimately our objective is to put together an organization that will be the best at everything we do," Browns CEO Joe Banner said. "On the field, our only goal is trying to win championships."

Crennel took over with three games left in the 2011 season after GM Scott Pioli fired Todd Haley. Kansas City will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft as a result of having one of the worst seasons in its 53-year history. The only other time the Chiefs finished 2-14 was 2008, the year before Pioli was hired.

"I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement.

Gailey, the former Dallas Cowboys coach, compiled a 16-32 record in his three seasons in Buffalo, never doing better than 6-10.

"This will probably be, and I say probably, but I think it will be the first place that's ever fired me that I'll pull for," Gailey said.

Smith and the Bears went 10-6 this season and just missed a playoff spot. But Chicago started 7-1 and has struggled to put together a productive offense throughout Smith's tenure. His record was 81-63 with the Bears, and he took them to one Super Bowl loss and to one NFC championship game defeat.

Receiver and kick return standout Devin Hester was bitter about Smith's firing.

"The media, the false fans, you all got what you all wanted," Hester said as he cleared out his locker. "The majority of you all wanted him out. As players we wanted him in. I guess the fans — the false fans — outruled us. I thought he was a great coach, probably one of the best coaches I've ever been around."

The fired GMs included Mike Tannenbaum of the Jets; Gene Smith of the Jaguars; Tom Heckert of the Browns; Smith of the Chargers and Graves of Arizona.

"You hope that those guys that obviously were victims of black Monday land on their feet," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "You've got guys that have been to Super Bowls and won championship games and all of a sudden they've forgot how to coach, I guess."

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