Obama salutes spirit of compromise, signs tax bill (AP)

US President Barack Obama signed into law a compromise bill extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits through 2012, after a bitter partisan fight over how to pay for it.Congress approved the bill on Friday with broad bipartisan support, ending the contentious battle over a measure aimed at boosting the tepid US recovery -- and giving Obama a key election-year victory.The US president, who is seeking re-election in November, signed the bill in the Oval Office, a White House statement said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a bill that raises taxes on wealthier Americans and preserves tax breaks for the middle class, while delaying billions of dollars in mandated spending cuts. The president signed the measure late Wednesday, a day after members of Congress passed the compromise legislation to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff." Obama said late Tuesday, after the bill cleared Congress, that it was "one step" in a broader effort to strengthen the ...

As everyone’s attention is focused on the slew of taxes set to increase in 2013, President Barack Obama has quietly signed into law a five-year extension to the warrantless intercept program that monitors the overseas activity of suspected spies and terrorists.

As Democrats demand tax concessions from Republicans to avert a collision over the government’s budget, Senate Democratic leaders are signaling that they may be willing to trade an entitlement program overhaul to secure a deal to rein in the national debt.