Bigger fights loom after "fiscal cliff" deal

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) walks with House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) to a meeting with House Republicans on the "fiscal cliff" budget deal on Capitol HillWASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans face even bigger budget battles in the next two months after a hard-fought "fiscal cliff" deal narrowly averted devastating tax increases and spending cuts. The agreement, approved late on Tuesday by the Republican-led House of Representatives and signed by Obama on Wednesday, was a victory for the president, who had won re-election in November on a promise to address budget woes, partly by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. …

Analysis: Republicans start new Congress bruised and divided

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner arrives to speak to the media on the "fiscal cliff" in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – In the wake of bruising fights in their own ranks over the "fiscal cliff" and aid for victims of superstorm Sandy – Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives open a new Congress on Thursday more divided than ever. While their leader, Speaker John Boehner, seems in no danger of losing his position because of the divisions, his ability to speak for his membership in the House appears greatly diminished. That could not come at a worse time for Republicans as they prepare for their next attempt to get more spending cuts out of President Barack Obama. …

Child support claim rankles sperm donor to lesbian couple

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) – A Kansas man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple so they could have a child said on Wednesday he is shocked the state is now trying to make him pay child support. William Marotta, 46, donated sperm to Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer under a written agreement that he would not be considered the father of the child nor liable for child support. A daughter, now 3, was born to Schreiner. …

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