As "fiscal cliff" looms, health reform questions linger

Washington lawmakers this month are squarely focused on deficit reduction as they attempt to scramble off the so-called "fiscal cliff." All the while, however, the government is proceeding with the costly and ambitious rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

Key components of President Obama's health care law won't go into effect for about another year, but federal and state lawmakers are obligated to start building up those health care systems now. Many Republicans, however, argue the Obama administration hasn't said with certainty what the programs will ultimately cost or how they'll be governed. Democrats largely chalk up the complaints to the latest chapter in Republican-led obstruction against the Affordable Care Act, pointing to Democratic-led states that are making progress implementing the law.

The "fiscal cliff," meanwhile -- the series of tax hikes and deep spending cuts set to kick in next year -- has cast a shadow over the entire health care debate. While lawmakers spar over the details of large new health care systems, Congress could be forced in the coming weeks to make spending cuts and policy changes to programs like Medicaid.

At a congressional hearing Thursday on the subject of the health care law, Louisiana's secretary of the Health and Hospitals Department Bruce Greenstein told Congress it felt as if they were operating in a "parallel universe."

"It feels somewhat awkward to be here testifying on the implementation of one of the largest expansions of entitlement programs in nearly 50 years," he said, "at the same time as ongoing discussions about federal spending reductions to avert the 'fiscal cliff' and raising the debt ceiling take place."

In spite of those concerns, states face one deadline today: Deciding whether or not they will establish and operate their own health care exchange system -- a state-based online marketplace where consumers should be able to compare health insurance plans and purchase one. If they don't want to build or operate their own exchanges, they can hand the responsibility to the federal government or enter into a state-federal partnership.

At the same time, state leaders are deciding whether to expand Medicaid, the joint federal-state program currently open to disabled and certain low-income people. The Affordable Care Act calls for states to open up Medicaid to anyone below 138 percent of the poverty line -- the Supreme Court, however, ruled over the summer that the Medicaid expansion shouldn't be mandatory. There's no deadline for states to say whether or not they will expand Medicaid.

Through these two components -- the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion -- roughly 36 million people are predicted to obtain health insurance by 2022.

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State Police: Two Gunmen at Conn. Grade School

A shooting involving two gunmen erupted at a Connecticut elementary school this morning, prompting the town of Newtown to lock down all of its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today.

State Police confirm that one shooter is dead. A second gunman is apparently at large, sources told ABC News.

The shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, about 12 miles east of Danbury.

State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.

Shannon Hicks/The Newtown Bee

A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.

CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.

While some students have been reunited with their parents on the school's perimeter, one group of students remains unaccounted for, according to a source with a child in the school.

Newton Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June said in a statement that the district's school were locked down because of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety of all students and staff."

State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown.

All public and private schools in the town are on lockdown.

State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.

A message on the school district website says that all afternoon kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no mid-day bus runs.

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Higgs boson having an identity crisis

The Higgs boson is sending mixed signals: its mass seems to vary depending on how it is measured. What's more, oddities in the way it decays into other particles, first noticed when the team at the Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of a new boson in July, do not seem to be going away.

Experiments at the LHC, part of the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, do not detect the Higgs directly. Instead, they collect and analyse the slew of particles it is predicted to decay into. The latest results from the ATLAS detector at the LHC suggest that when we look at its decay into two photons, we find that the new boson's mass is about 3 greater than when calculated from its decay into particles called Z bosons.

Albert De Roeck, one of the key Higgs hunters at ATLAS's sibling detector, CMS, finds this puzzling. "The results are barely consistent," he says.

But he says the inconsistency almost certainly reflects a problem with the measurements rather than strange physics.

"There's probably a large statistical fluctuation pulling the data around," says Matt Strassler of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. He says the problem may have implications for other results.

No fluke

The ATLAS team also announced new results from analysing the Higgs boson's rate of decay into pairs of photons. The standard model of particle physics predicts exactly how often this should happen. Intriguingly, when early hints of a new particle were upgraded to a "discovery" in July, it was doing that more often than the standard model says it should. But there was not enough data to say whether this was a fluke.

If the Higgs really decays into photons at too fast a rate, it would offer some clues as to where to look for new physics that might explain mysteries like dark matter, gravity and the dearth of antimatter in the universe.

Today, physicists announced that the excess has not gone away – and it does not look any less likely to be a fluke either, because they have now seen twice the number of decays.

"It keeps us titillated," says Raymond Volkas from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Strassler calls the new results "very interesting and tantalising", but adds that they are still not quite enough to tell us anything.

"I guess the CMS results are now very highly anticipated," says De Roeck. The CMS team has not released their data on the Higgs decay to photons yet, saying they need more time to do their analysis.

According to Strassler, the Higgs mass problem could be a sign that we should not trust the unusually high rate of photon decays measured. "This unfortunately tends to make me less confident that the excess seen in the photon signal will survive with more data."

Next week, the LHC will move into a different phase before shutting down in early 2013 while the machine is upgraded. You'd think that might let physicists' blood pressure recover, but there is no rest for the wicked. Marumi Kado, presenting the ATLAS results today, said they have only analysed a fraction of the data collected so far. "Surprises might be waiting for us in the present data," he said.

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Ukrainian MPs brawl in parliament as PM re-appointed

KIEV: The Ukrainian parliament Thursday voted to reinstate its prime minister after dozens of opposition and pro-government lawmakers brawled for a second day in the chamber notorious for its fisticuffs.

Newly-elected world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko sought to stand above the fray by staying well out of the fighting that came just before parliament voted to re-appoint Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

Deputies in suits and shirtsleeves climbed on tables, shouted and grappled with opponents in an angry protest against lawmakers pressing electronic buttons to vote for absentee colleagues.

While lawmakers are legally obliged to vote in person, many of them run around pressing buttons for absent colleagues.

Opposition politicians rose to their feet and rushed to blockade the speaker's tribune, while being pushed back by pro-government lawmakers.

Amid angry shouts and calls for calm, some clambered on desks from where they dealt blows and jumped down on opponents.

At least one opposition lawmaker had a bruised face after being thrown to the floor and receiving punches and kicks from ruling party lawmakers, the Interfax news agency reported.

The towering boxing champion Klitschko, whose opposition party UDAR, or punch, has won 42 seats in the parliament, refrained from joining the skirmishes and could be seen seated, watching the fight calmly.

"You could call the fists of a world champion a nuclear weapon. I don't think we will use this weapon yet," Klitschko said, quoted by his party press service.

But he added: "We do support the blockading of the tribune."

After a break, the parliament managed to restore calm and hold a vote to reappoint prime minister Azarov that had been postponed from Wednesday.

A total of 252 deputies out of 450 in the single-chamber parliament supported Azarov's return to office, including President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party, the Communists and several independents.

Three opposition factions - Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party close to jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the UDAR party of Klitschko and the Svoboda nationalist movement - did not back Azarov.

"The politics of the Regions Party of which Azarov is a representative is anti-Ukrainian, anti-social and anti-democratic," said comments from Svoboda.

It remained unclear why Azarov, 64, took the dramatic step of resigning earlier this month, with the presidency saying at the time that Yanukovych had accepted his request to give up his post and become an MP.

Azarov called on the parliament to leave behind the "confrontation" to "face together outside challenges" including the global economic crisis that is already hurting Ukraine.

The parliament's opening session on Wednesday had earlier seen fighting erupt between opposition lawmakers and deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp.

In a typically raucous session, feminist group Femen also staged a topless anti-corruption protest outside the entrance to the parliament wearing only black pants.

The brawls were an ugly start to a new parliament apparently still controlled by Yanukovych's Regions Party, which claims to have won a majority in legislative elections on October 28.

The October polls were widely criticised by the international community, coming as Tymoshenko continues to serve a seven-year prison term for abuse of power that she argues is politically motivated.

The Ukrainian parliament is often the scene of scuffles with lawmakers throwing eggs and letting off smokebombs.

Two years ago several opposition deputies were badly injured in a bloody brawl prompted by the opening of a criminal probe into Tymoshenko that saw punches thrown and chairs hurled.

- AFP/de

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Court: Prank call nurse found hanging by co-workers

By Laura Smith-Spark and Jonathan Wald, CNN

updated 11:12 AM EST, Thu December 13, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The nurse's body was formally identified by her husband, the inquest hears


• Australia's media watchdog opens an investigation into the prank call by 2Day FM


• Court: Jacintha Saldanha was found by co-workers hanging from a scarf


• The nurse left three notes, two of them at the scene, a police officer says

London (CNN) -- A nurse who took a prank call from an Australian radio station apparently hanged herself using a scarf, but her reasons for pursuing that tragic course remain unclear.

Jacintha Saldanha was found last Friday by work colleagues hanging from a wardrobe door at her hospital living quarters, a coroner's court in London heard Thursday.

The nurse, who was married with two teenaged children, left three notes, two at the scene and a third with her belongings, Westminster Coroner's Court heard.

The content of the notes was not disclosed.

Read more: Who was Jacintha Saldanha?

There were also "some injuries to her wrist," Detective Chief Inspector James Harman said.

The nurse put through the prank call December 4 to a nurse on the ward where Prince William's wife, Catherine, was being treated for acute morning sickness.

Some details of her condition were given to the radio DJs, who impersonated Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II.

The details around the circumstances of Saldanha's death emerged as an inquest -- a proceeding usually held in Britain when a death is sudden, unexplained or violent -- was opened.

The coroner's court was told that Saldanha's body was formally identified Tuesday by her husband, Benedict Barboza.

Police are looking at e-mails and telephone records, Harman said, and will speak to Saldanha's friends and co-workers about what could have led to her death.

Opinion: Prank call pitted 'the great' against the powerless

At this time there are no suspicious circumstances, he said.

Police will also be in touch with Australian police to find out what would be the best way of gathering evidence, Harman said. This could involve either going to Australia or collecting evidence remotely.

Saldanha, whose tragic death triggered wide public anger against the radio station involved, Sydney-based 2Day FM, was represented at the coroner's court by co-workers from the hospital.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority, the country's media watchdog, on Thursday opened a formal investigation into 2Day FM's broadcast of the prank call.

Causes of suicide not always straightforward

"The ACMA will be examining whether the licensee has complied with its broadcasting obligations," said chairman Chris Chapman.

The station's owner, media network Southern Cross Austereo, pledged Tuesday to donate at least 500,000 Australian dollars (US$524,000) to a fund for the nurse's family.

It lifted a moratorium on advertising Thursday, with all profits to the end of the year to go to the fund.

The 46-year-old nurse, who moved to the UK from India a decade ago, had worked at King Edward VII's Hospital, where Catherine was being treated, for the past four years

The coroner adjourned the inquest until a provisional date of March 26.

Radio personalities apologize for prank call

Part of complete coverage on

Prank call tragedy

updated 11:19 AM EST, Wed December 12, 2012

As the family and media search for answers, a picture emerges of a generous, caring woman who was caught up in a media maelstrom.

updated 5:43 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

Two DJs responsible for the prank call speak of their sorrow that a nurse caught up in the call apparently killed herself.

updated 4:56 PM EST, Sat December 8, 2012

Two DJs are under fire after the death of a nurse who received a hoax phone call. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

updated 5:43 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

In this whole tragic affair Jacintha Saldanha was truly powerless, Ross Stevenson writes, explaining why airing the call was wrong.

updated 5:42 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

The apparent suicide of Jacintha Saldanha has provoked outrage, sadness and demands for retribution in all corners of the media.

updated 10:35 AM EST, Mon December 10, 2012

An Australian radio network defends its prank DJs, saying the media around the world has carried out a "witch hunt" against them.

updated 5:44 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

The hospital where a nurse committed suicide after being duped by a hoax condemned the station responsible in a strongly worded letter.

updated 5:44 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

The chairman of the Australian radio network has called the apparent suicide of one of the nurses duped by the prank "truly tragic."

updated 5:43 AM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

Many social media users were quick to point fingers at the two radio hosts who made the call and then promoted it on Facebook.

updated 12:53 PM EST, Fri December 7, 2012

Two Australian radio DJs made a prank call to the hospital where the duchess is staying, claiming to be Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles.

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Golden Globes: "Lincoln" leads with 7 nominations

Nominees for the 70th Golden Globe Awards were announced Thursday morning, and "Lincoln" is in the lead.

The Civil War epic is up for seven nominations, among them best drama, director for Steven Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

Tied for second-place with five nominations each, including best drama, are Ben Affleck's Iran hostage-crisis thriller "Argo" and Quentin Tarantino's slave-turned-bounty-hunter tale "Django Unchained."

Other best-drama nominees are Ang Lee's shipwreck story "Life of Pi" and Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller "Zero Dark Thirty."

Nominated for best musical or comedy were: the British retiree adventure "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"; the Victor Hugo musical "Les Miserables"; the first-love tale "Moonrise Kingdom"; the fishing romance "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"; and the lost-soul romance "Silver Linings Playbook."

The directing lineup came entirely from dramatic films, with Affleck, Bigelow, Lee, Spielberg and Tarantino all in the running. Filmmakers behind best musical or comedy nominees were shut out for director, including Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" and David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook."

15 Photos

Golden Globe nominees 2013

Along with Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Spielberg's epic, best dramatic actor contenders are Richard Gere as a deceitful Wall Streeter in "Arbitrage"; John Hawkes as a polio victim trying to lose his virginity in "The Sessions"; Joaquin Phoenix as a Navy veteran under the sway of a cult leader in "The Master"; and Denzel Washington as a boozy airline pilot in "Flight."

Nominees in the dramatic actress category are Jessica Chastain as a CIA analyst hunting Osama bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty"; Marion Cotillard as a whale biologist beset by tragedy in "Rust and Bone"; Helen Mirren as Alfred Hitchcock's strong-minded wife in "Hitchcock"; Naomi Watts as a woman caught up in a devastating tsunami in "The Impossible"; and Rachel Weisz as a woman ruined by an affair in "The Deep Blue Sea."

For musical or comedy actress, the lineup is Emily Blunt as a consultant for a Mideast sheik in "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"; Judi Dench as a widow who retires overseas in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"; Jennifer Lawrence as young widow in "Silver Linings Playbook"; Maggie Smith as an aging singer in a retirement home in "Quartet"; and Meryl Streep as a wife trying to save her marriage in "Hope Springs."

Nominees for musical or comedy actor are Jack Black as a solicitous mortician in "Bernie"; Bradley Cooper as a troubled man fresh out of a mental hospital in "Silver Linings Playbook"; Hugh Jackman as long-suffering hero Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables"; Ewan McGregor as a British fisheries expert in "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"; and Bill Murray as Franklin Roosevelt in "Hyde Park on Hudson."

Competing for supporting actor are Alan Arkin as a Hollywood producer helping a CIA operation in "Argo"; Leonardo DiCaprio as a cruel slave owner in "Django Unchained"; Philip Seymour Hoffman as a mesmerizing cult leader in "The Master"; Tommy Lee Jones as firebrand abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens in "Lincoln"; and Christoph Waltz as a genteel bounty hunter in "Django Unchained."

The supporting-actress picks are Amy Adams as a cult leader's devoted wife in "The Master"; Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln in "Lincoln"; Anne Hathaway as a mother fallen into prostitution in "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt as a sexual surrogate in "The Sessions"; and Nicole Kidman as a trashy mistress of a Death Row inmate in "The Paperboy."

Play Video

Golden Globe 2013: EW editor talks nominees

The awards are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Ed Helms were on hand to help announce the nominees on Thursday morning from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Globe acting winners often go on to receive the same prizes at the Oscars. All four Oscar winners last season -- lead actors Meryl Streep of "The Iron Lady" and Jean Dujardin of "The Artist" and supporting players Octavia Spencer of "The Help" and Christopher Plummer of "Beginners" -- won Golden Globes first.

The Globes have a spotty record predicting which films might go on to earn the best-picture prize at the Academy Awards, however.

The Globes feature two best-film categories, one for drama and one for musical or comedy. Last year's Oscar best-picture winner, "The Artist," preceded that honor with a Globe win for best musical or comedy.

But in the seven years before that, only one winner in the Globe best-picture categories - 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" - followed up with an Oscar best-picture win.

Along with 14 film prizes, the Globes hand out awards in 11 television categories.

Jodie Foster, a two-time Oscar and Globe winner for "The Accused" and "The Silence of the Lambs," will receive the group's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Jan. 13 ceremony.

The Golden Globes will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Both were nominated for best actress in a TV comedy, Fey for "30 Rock" and Poehler for "Parks and Recreation."

The nominees for best television drama series are "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," "Downton Abbey," "Homeland" and "The Newsroom." In the best comedy series category, the nominees are "The Big Bang Theory," "Episodes," "Girls," "Modern Family" and "Smash."

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Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself, Left 3 Notes

Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she answered a radio-station prank call about Kate Middleton, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes, according to the coroner's officer.

The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered Dec. 7 hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom, Coroner's Officer Lynda Martindill told a British inquest.

The wife and mother of two also had injuries to her wrists, according to police detective chief inspector James Harman.

Harman told the coroner's inquest that two notes were found at the scene and a third was discovered among Saldanha's belongings.

He did not release the contents of the notes.

Royal Hospital Hoax: Fallout Continues for DJs Watch Video

Royal Hospital Hoax: End to Shock-Jock Pranks? Watch Video

Australian DJs Apologize in Wake of Nurse's Suicide Watch Video

There is no suspicion of foul play in Saldanha's death, Harman said. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what led to her suicide, and are now interviewing her friends, family and co-workers to find more information, Harman said.

Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.

Saldanha had worked at the hospital for more than four years.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian of 2Day FM in Sydney called the hospital Dec. 5 pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, looking to speak to Middleton, who was being treated at the hospital for acute nausea related to her pregnancy. The duo were able to obtain information about the duchess' condition.

When the royal impersonators called the hospital, Saldanha put them through to a second nurse who told the royal impersonators that Kate was "quite stable" and hadn't "had any retching."

The radio station, along with Greig and Christian, has apologized for the prank call, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority has now launched an investigation into the incident.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox has adjourned the inquest into Saldanha's death until March 26.

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Out-of-season's greetings from the Arctic frost flowers

Joanna Carver, reporter

(Image: Matthias Wietz/IGERT/NSF)

Season's regards from an icy meadow in the Arctic, but it's no winter wonderland and please don't dash out into it. These frost flowers generally form in spring, and only on thin ice, so you'd quickly find yourself in freezing water in a sparsely populated area.

Frost flowers form in calm conditions when the atmosphere is much colder than the underlying ice. The ice vaporises into dry air and then refreezes into these beautiful frosty blossoms, which concentrate salt and bacteria from the ice.

Frost flowers might also be a source of aerosols in the polar atmosphere. Researchers at the University of Leeds, UK, suggested in 2006 that the frost flowers draw up sea salt from a brine layer just above the ice, and when the wind breaks them up, they become aerosols. It's suggested they even contribute to ozone depletion.

Lily-pad-like formations like these are common in polar regions in springtime, giving those areas a little cheer for a bit - a rest from just being the lands where it's forever winter.

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Mass protest as Michigan curbs union rights

CHICAGO: Thousands of protesters descended on Michigan's state capitol Tuesday as lawmakers prepared to pass union-curbing "right-to-work" legislation in a state seen as the heart of the labor movement.

The measure would weaken unions by allowing workers who get the same wages and benefits as union members to decline to pay any union dues.

Democratic lawmakers begged their Republican colleagues not to pass the controversial bill, which they warned would unleash deep social and political strife.

"There will be blood. There will be repercussions," state representative Douglass Geiss told the chamber.

Geiss reminded his colleagues of the violent clashes that accompanied the struggle to form unions in the 1930s and warned that people feel just as strongly about solidarity today.

"If ten people walk in and say I'm not going to pay dues anymore, there's going to be fights," he warned.

State representative John Switlaski lashed out at the fact Republicans were pushing the bill through in a lame duck session using a parliamentary maneuver that limits debate and means Democrats can't stop it unless they regain control in the 2014 election.

"The next two years are going to be terrible. They're going to be ugly," Switlaski said.

"I think we should pause and take a step back... let the people have a say. we'll vote for it. Put it on the ballot."

Republican state representative Lisa Lyons insisted the law was about giving workers their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of association.

"We are witnessing history in the making," she said. "This is the day that Michigan freed its workers."

Boos and chants of "veto" poured into the chamber from the gallery after the House voted 58-51 to pass the bill, sending it to Governor Rick Snyder for final approval.

Hundreds of union members and supporters crowded into the capitol dome, blowing whistles and chanting "the people are united" and "What's disgusting? Union busting!"

Thousands more shivered in the cold outside, television news footage showed.

"The right-wing forces in Michigan are trying to take power away from working families," United Auto Workers union chief Bob King told reporters.

"They want working families to have less income, less security. This is about partisanship, not bringing the state together."

Currently, the state operates a "closed shop" policy that requires workers who profit from collective bargaining to pay fees but does not make it mandatory for them to become union members.

The right-to-work law creates an incentive for people not to join the union in what is known as the "free rider" problem because it allows them to benefit from collective bargaining without paying for it.

Snyder insists the law is necessary "to maintain our competitive edge" and attract new jobs, especially after neighboring Indiana became the 23rd US state to enact right-to-work legislation earlier this year.

But while business may profit from weakening unions, the real motivation for lawmakers is political, said Roland Zullo, a labor relations expert at the University of Michigan.

"This whole right-to-work thing is retribution," Zullo told AFP. "It's really about the fact that unions in Michigan were very important actors in helping to elect Democrats this last election."

Unions are a key source of financial and grassroots get-out-the-vote support for President Barack Obama's Democrats, and he was quick to slam the controversial bill in an appearance at Michigan auto plant Monday.

"You know, these so-called right-to-work laws -- they don't have to do with economics: they have everything to do with politics," Obama told a cheering crowd of unionized workers.

"What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."

-AFP/ac

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Angry with Obama, GOP regroups for next political war

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sen. Graham says President Obama is in for a "rude awakening"


• Graham: "We're not going to raise the debt ceiling" without deficit reduction


• Obama says the nation's credit standing shouldn't be a political issue


• Polls show most Americans back the president on raising taxes on the rich

Washington (CNN) -- They are losing the battle over higher taxes on the wealthy, so now Republicans are threatening a political war next year when it comes time to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

With cracks appearing in their anti-tax facade and polls showing most Americans favoring President Barack Obama's stance in fiscal cliff negotiations, GOP legislators are starting to advocate a tactical retreat to fight another day.

Conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, promised the newly re-elected Obama a "rude awakening" next year if the president forces through his plan for high-income earners to pay more taxes without agreeing to substantive steps to reduce the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt.

"In February or March, you have to raise the debt ceiling," Graham noted Monday on Fox News. "And I can tell you this: there's a hardening on the Republican side. We're not going to raise the debt ceiling. We're not going to let Obama borrow any more money or any American Congress any more money until we fix this country from becoming Greece."

Another GOP senator, Bob Corker of Tennessee, said his side should give Obama the short-term tax plan he seeks and focus next year on spending cuts and reforming entitlement programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as broader tax reform.

Survey: 70% want compromise

Three weeks remain to cut a deal before the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts of the fiscal cliff go into effect on January 1.

Without a deal during the current lame-duck session of Congress, everyone's taxes go up and economists warn the impact of the fiscal cliff could cause another recession.

However, the administration has signaled it can delay some of the effects to allow time to work out an agreement when a new Congress convenes in January.

Obama has held a campaign-style series of public events to back his call for extending Bush-era tax cuts for 98% of Americans while allowing rates to return to higher 1990s levels on income over $250,000.

The issue was central to his re-election in November and Obama made clear on Monday that he intended to adhere to his belief that the wealthy must contribute more.

"I'm willing to compromise a little bit," Obama said at a Michigan diesel engine plant. However, he said higher tax rates on the the top income brackets was "a principle I'm not going to compromise on."

The president's public push appears to be working as polls show most Americans back the president's position.

A new Politico/George Washington University survey on Monday said 60% of respondents supported Obama's proposal compared to 38% who opposed it, the latest of four surveys in the past two weeks showing public backing.

On Tuesday, a Gallup poll showed that 70% of adult Americans want Congress and the White House to reach a compromise that would avoid the fiscal cliff. A similar Gallup poll last week said 62% wanted compromise.

The deficit reduction debate hinges on the tax issue, with Republicans opposing any increase in tax rates in their quest to shrink government while Obama and Democrats want to secure more tax revenue as part of a broader package.

Both sides call for eliminating tax deductions and loopholes to raise more revenue, but Obama also demands an end to the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 for the top brackets.

Republicans oppose the return to higher rates, saying it will inhibit job growth because small business owners declare their profits as personal income and therefore would face a tax increase.

In response, Obama and Democrats note that their plan -- already approved by the Senate and needing only House approval to be signed into law by the president -- affects just 2% of taxpayers and 3% of small business owners.

While Republicans argue those small business owners account for about half of all business income, Democrats say that's because they include law firms, hedge funds traders and other high-income operations.

Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met face-to-face on Sunday for the first time since November 16. It also was their first one-on-one meeting in more than a year, when deficit talks broke down.

The outline for a deal has become clear in recent weeks. Both sides agree that more revenue from taxes should be part of the equation, with Obama seeking $1.6 trillion and Republicans offering $800 billion.

A source close to the talks said Tuesday that the White House had floated the idea of dropping the revenue target to $1.2 trillion, then went up to $1.4 trillion on Monday.

Boehner's side wants additional revenue to come from tax reform, such as eliminating some deductions and loopholes, while Obama demands the higher rates on income over $250,000 for families as part of the equation.

Boehner and Republicans also seek savings from entitlement programs totaling another $800 billion or so, while Obama has proposed $400 billion in reduced entitlement costs. Social Security would not be included in the president's plan.

Another sticky issue -- whether the need to raise the federal debt ceiling early next year should be part of the discussion -- also remains unresolved. Obama says absolutely not, while Boehner says that any increase in the federal borrowing limit must be offset by spending cuts.

Graham's comments Monday showed that Republicans plan to regroup around negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, which allows the government to borrow more money to pay its bills.

He noted that Obama proposed making permanent a process originated by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that would allow the president to increase the debt ceiling and Congress to then try to block it -- an unlikely scenario given Democratic control of the Senate.

"That's going nowhere," Graham said, adding: "He's not king. He's president."

It remains unclear if a deal will happen before the end of the year or if the negotiations will carry over into 2013, after the fiscal cliff takes effect.

Without action now on the fiscal cliff, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that middle-class families would pay about $2,000 a year more in taxes. Even with a deal, revisions in the tax code and other changes would mean everyone pays a bit more starting next year.

All signs point toward a two-step approach sought by Obama, with initial agreement now on some version of his tax plan with targets set for comprehensive negotiations on a broader deficit reduction deal in the new Congress next year.

Such an outcome would put off the main worry of the fiscal cliff -- expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts that would result in higher rates for everyone.

Obama and Democrats say they would then be ready to negotiate significant savings from entitlement programs, while Republicans say they need to first see commitment on entitlement reforms before accepting any higher tax rates.

Some in Congress warn that the legislative process will need at least a week to work through potentially complex measures from any proposed deal, meaning a de facto deadline of Christmas Day at the very latest exists for negotiators.

At the same time, voices from inside and outside the process say something must happen now.

CNN's Dana Bash and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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