The FBI performed nearly 2.8 million background checks on people wanting to buy guns in December, a record month that capped a record year.

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150 years later, myths persist about the Emancipation Proclamation

FISCAL CLIFF

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After exhaustive negotiations that strained the country's patience, the House approved a bill to avert the dreaded fiscal cliff, staving off widespread tax increases and deep spending cuts.

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Now that the House has passed a Senate deal to avert the fiscal cliff, it will become law when President Obama signs it. He has returned to Hawaii to join his family on vacation. Here are five things to know about the complex bill, and what it does and doesn't do.

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Political junkies were picturing the scene before the gavel came down: Rep. Paul Ryan, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Marco Rubio, sparring on an Iowa debate stage in December 2015, explaining their three-year-old votes on the deal designed to avert the fiscal cliff.

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Credit rating agencies are likely to hold off passing judgment on the U.S. fiscal cliff deal until they have a clearer picture about the fate of the debt ceiling and longer term plans to reduce borrowing.

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Everyone's paycheck is about to take a hit, and it's not the boss' fault. But some business owners say it's a tough talk to have.

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Wealthy investors will have to pay a higher tax rate on their dividend income as part of the new fiscal cliff deal, but the increase isn't nearly as bad as what it could have been.

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U.S. federal workers, who were bracing for furloughs, got a two-month reprieve under the deal passed by Congress to avert the fiscal cliff.

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For middle class Americans, there will be no escaping higher taxes in 2013.

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The fiscal cliff deal approved by Congress will increase deficits over the next decade by close to $4 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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Think the fiscal cliff caused an awful lot of uncertainty and held back the economy? How about three more cliff-like deadlines over the next three months?

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