US House of Representatives passes legislation to avoid "fiscal cliff"

A weary Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama to avoid the economy-threatening "fiscal cliff" of middle-class tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts late on Tuesday night hours before financial markets reopen after the New Year's holiday.        

The bill's passage on a 257-167 vote in the House of Representatives sealed a hard-won political triumph for the president less than two months after he secured re-election while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.    

The economic as well as political stakes were considerable.  

Economists have warned that without action by Congress, the tax increases and spending cuts that technically took effect with the turn of the new year at midnight could cause unemployment to spike and send the economy into recession.    

The extraordinary late-night House vote took place less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the measure in the pre-dawn hours on New Year's Day.  

The legislation cleared the Senate hours after Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, veteran negotiators, sealed a deal.        

In addition to neutralizing middle class tax increases and spending cuts that technically took effect Monday at midnight, the legislation raises tax rates on incomes over 400-thousand for individuals and 450-thousand for couples.