From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Hanging 10 on the fiscal cliff, Congress pulls back from the edge.

I'm Sarah Terry sitting in for Warren Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

It was down to the wire on Capitol Hill yesterday.

In the end, lawmakers stepped back from the so-called fiscal cliff

when the House voted to pass a Senate bill that increases taxes on households earning more than $450,000

and postpones $110 billion in spending cuts through the end of February.

Who compromised what to reach this bipartisan plan?

More fierce battles lie ahead.

What happens to bipartisanship in the next rounds of fiscal wrestling?

On reporter's notebook, New Year's Day, 1863,

how Abraham Lincoln came to sign the

Emancipation Proclamation. First, the news.

Listen to KCRW's 24-hour all-news channel. Stream BBC World Service, NPRW programs,

continuous coverage and accessible via our smartphone app or online at kCRW.

Support for To the Point comes from the members of KCRW and from the Public Radio International Program Fund.

I'm Sarah Terry sitting in for Warren Alney, back with To the Point from PRI.

In a flurry of New Year's Day negotiating, Congress stepped back from the fiscal cliff with bipartisan

legislation that keeps Bush-Euro tax cuts in place for almost all Americans.

But the deal didn't include spending cuts that Republicans had demanded,

and critics say it does nothing to address the nation's deeper long-term fiscal problems,

...