december 31, 2012. it s down to the wire. we are less than 24 hours away from hitting the so-called fiscal a cliff right now. the house and senate are striking a deal oh avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts. derek ward is live with more on what s happening today. the end is near. that s the end of the year, of course. what about the path that ends at the end of the fiscal cliff. senators should be back at it. the house reconvened this morning. such new year s eve appearances are on the hill. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and joe biden kept in place to avoid $200 billion in tax increases. broad stroke spending cuts and domestic and defense spending. they would take effect gradually over a period beginning at midnight if the white house and congress can t reconcile their differences. it appeared to have been movement on the cost of living increases for social security recipients. opposition to the white house s proposed rate of increase was dropped but the com
weapon. i don t buy that. i think it is lazy, sloppy and i think it is time that our diplomats and i am from britain and europe and nato are just as guilty, much, much smarter way of dealing with this and using the leverage we have from the financial programs to get better results visit booktv.org to watch any of the programs you see here. type the author or book title in the top in search. and you can share things easy by clicking share and selecting the format. next, john staddon says cigarette smokers are being unfairly targeted by the government and argues smoking isn t as risky as many people believe and also says the data on secondhand smoke isn t reliable. and he said taxing smokers for being a burden on the health care system is unjustified. this is about 50 minutes. welcome, everyone. i am cory swanson. executive vice president of the john locke foundation. i wish to extend a warm welcome to our c-span audience. it is pleasure to have you. uled i would like to