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Posted: 2/8/2013 3:28:42 PM EST
FILE - This Feb. 3, 2012 file photo shows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington. Trying to ratchet up pressure on Congress, the White House on Friday detailed what it said would be the painful impact on the federal work force and certain government assistance programs if “large and arbitrary” scheduled government spending cuts are allowed to take place beginning March 1. They include layoffs or furloughs of “hundreds of thousands” of federal workers, from FBI agents, U.S. prosecutors and food safety inspectors to air traffic controllers, said White House budget officials at a briefing. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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Posted: 1/30/2013 5:43:37 PM EST
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, file photo, containers are unloaded from cargo ships at APM Terninals in the Port of Los Angeles. The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank from October through December, the first quarterly drop since 2009 and a reminder of the economy's vulnerability as automatic cuts in government spending loom. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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Posted: 1/30/2013 5:43:35 PM EST
In this Wed. Dec. 5, 2012, photo, containers are unloaded from cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles. The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank from October through December, the first quarterly drop since 2009 and a reminder of the economy's vulnerability as automatic cuts in government spending loom. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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Posted: 12/27/2012 11:23:38 AM EST
In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, photo, a couple descend an escalator while shopping at an H& M store, in Atlanta. U.S. consumer confidence tumbled in December, driven lower by fears of sharp tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect next week. The Conference Board said Thursday that its consumer confidence index fell this month to 65.1, down from 71.5 in November. That's second straight decline and the lowest level since August. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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Posted: 12/27/2012 11:23:38 AM EST
In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, photo, shoppers walk past a store at a mall in Salem, N.H. U.S. consumer confidence tumbled in December, driven lower by fears of sharp tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect next week. The Conference Board said Thursday that its consumer confidence index fell this month to 65.1, down from 71.5 in November. That's second straight decline and the lowest level since August. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Specialist Todd Abrahall, center, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Trader Joseph Chirico, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Specialist Jason Hardzewic, left, and trader Ryan Falvey work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Specialist Henry Becker, right, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange observe a minute of silence before the opening bell in honor of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims and their families, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Trader Joseph Lawler, left, and specialist Jay Woods work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/21/2012 11:48:39 AM EST
Specialist Christopher Culhane works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on Wall Street after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/17/2012 12:43:23 PM EST
In this Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, photo, Traders Patrick McKeon, left, and Joel Lucchese work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks rose modestly Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, on Wall Street. Investors were encouraged by signs of progress in talks to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect in two weeks and a prediction of steady economic growth next year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Posted: 12/16/2012 11:28:32 AM EST
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2012 file photo, fog obscures the Capitol dome on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big tax increases will hit millions of families and businesses a lot sooner than many realize if Congress and the White House don't agree on a plan to avoid the year-end fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and government spending cuts. In fact, they already have. More than 70 tax breaks enjoyed by individuals and businesses already expired at the beginning of this year. If Congress doesn't extend them, a typical middle class family could get a $4,000 tax hike when they file their 2012 returns next spring, according to a private analysis. At the same time, businesses could lose dozens of tax breaks they have enjoyed for years. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Posted: 12/14/2012 3:28:28 AM EST
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio points to a chart to emphasize his talking point that government spending complicates the negotiations on avoiding the so-called "fiscal cliff," during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Boehner is insisting that President Barack Obama wants far more in tax increases than spending reductions and appears willing to walk the economy "right up to the fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Posted: 11/29/2012 11:43:26 AM EST
FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2012 file photo, production line workers, Xiao Yins-Wong, left, and Chui M. Wong, straighten the wick in the candles at Chesapeake Bay Candle factory in Glen Burnie Md. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate from July through September, much faster than first thought. The strength is expected to fade in the final months of the year because of uncertainty about looming tax increases and government spending cuts. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
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Posted: 11/14/2012 12:03:40 PM EST
Demonstrators face police during a protest against Italian Government austerity measures in Rome, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Workers across the European Union sought to present a united front against rampant unemployment and government spending cuts Wednesday with a string of strikes and demonstrations across the region. Protesters clashed with police in various demonstrations in Rome, Milan, Turin, Padua and Brescia. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Posted: 11/14/2012 12:03:40 PM EST
Protesters hold Spanish and Italian flags outside the Greek parliament during a protest in Athens, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Workers across the European Union sought to present a united front against rampant unemployment and government spending cuts Wednesday with a string of strikes and demonstrations across the region. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Posted: 11/14/2012 12:03:35 PM EST
Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against Italian Government austerity measures in Rome, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Workers across the European Union sought to present a united front against rampant unemployment and government spending cuts Wednesday with a string of strikes and demonstrations across the region. Protesters clashed with police in various demonstrations in Rome, Milan, Turin, Padua and Brescia. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
