WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Vice President Joe Biden said
on Wednesday the White House plans to act quickly to curb gun
violence and will explore all avenues – including executive
orders that would not require the approval of Congress – to try
to prevent incidents like last month’s massacre at a Connecticut
school.

Kicking off a series of White House meetings on gun
violence, Biden said the administration would work with
gun-control advocates and gun-rights supporters to build a
political consensus on restrictions. But Biden made clear that
President Barack Obama is prepared to act on his own if
necessary.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is “determined to take action” against gun violence and is considering executive orders aimed preventing attacks like last month’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.

Biden opened a White House meeting with gun violence victims and gun-control advocates as part of his effort to craft a package of recommendations that Obama has requested by the end of January.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is pledging to focus in his second term on immigration reform, boosting economic growth through infrastructure repair and energy policies that nod to environmental protection.

The president is mired in a difficult fight with congressional Republicans to avoid sharp spending cuts and steep tax increases collectively referred to as the “fiscal cliff.” However, he still has a longer-term to-do list for his remaining four years in office, he said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that was broadcast on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama held out hope for a last-minute agreement to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts after a meeting with congressional leaders, scolding Congress for leaving the problem unresolved until the eleventh hour.

“The hour for immediate action is here,” he told reporters at the White House. “I’m modestly optimistic that an agreement can be achieved,” he said.

WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama met
congressional leaders on Friday but there was little
sign of progress in resolving their differences over the U.S.
federal budget and striking a “fiscal cliff” deal before Jan. 1.

Obama was not planning to make a new offer, a source
familiar with the meeting said as the hour-long talks got under
way. None of the participants made statements to the media
immediately after the summit at the White House ended.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and lawmakers are launching a last-chance round of budget talks just days before a New Year’s deadline to reach a deal or watch the economy go off a “fiscal cliff.”

Obama will meet congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Friday at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) to try to revive negotiations to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts – together worth $600 billion – that will begin to take effect on January1.

WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and
lawmakers are launching a last-chance round of budget talks just
days before a New Year’s deadline to
reach a deal or watch the economy go off a “fiscal cliff.”

Obama will meet congressional leaders from both parties at
the White House on Friday at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) to try to
revive negotiations to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts -
together worth $600 billion – that will begin to take effect on
Jan.1.

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU (Reuters) – Efforts to prevent the U.S. economy from going over a “fiscal cliff” stirred back to life on Wednesday with less than a week to go before potentially disastrous tax hikes and spending cuts kick in at the New Year.

In a sign that there may be a way through deadlock in Congress, Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner urged the Democrat-controlled Senate to act to pull back from the cliff and offered to at least consider any bill the upper chamber produced.

HONOLULU, Dec 26 (Reuters) – As President Barack Obama cut
short a Christmas vacation to resume talks to avoid the “fiscal
cliff” of automatic year-end tax hikes and spending cuts, the
White House on Wednesday called on congressional Republicans not
to stand in the way of a resolution in the U.S. Congress.

“It’s up to the Senate Minority Leader not to block a vote,
and it’s up the House Republican leader, the Speaker of the
House … to allow a vote,” a senior administration official
told reporters traveling with the president.

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday edged closer to the “fiscal cliff” as Congress waited for President Barack Obama to return from vacation in Hawaii and make one final attempt to avoid huge tax hikes and spending cuts in the New Year.

In the absence of Obama, there was no sign of either side in Congress making an effort to strike a deal. The corridors of the Capitol building were empty except for an occasional police officer, and members’ office doors stayed locked.