Hillary Clinton, Hospitalized with a Blood Clot, Faces New Decisions

Yesterday evening Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was hospitalized for treatment and monitoring of a blood clot. Earlier this month, the 65 year old Secretary collapsed and hit her head while suffering from a stomach virus. At that point, she sustained a concussion. This may have contributed to the new problem, according to State Department notices. The location of her blood clot, in terms of what body part is affected, has not been disclosed.This is the Secretary and former First Lady’s second reported blood clot, or thrombosis. In a previous interview with the New York Daily News, Mrs. Clinton related an episode in 1998 when her foot became swollen and painful. It was a time when she was campaigning and frequently traveling on airplanes. Her doctors diagnosed a blood clot. “That is the most significant health scare I’ve ever had,” she told the Daily News in October, 2007.The most common kind of blood clot, a deep venous thrombosis, or DVT, tends to arise when flow slows down within a vein, typically in a person’s leg. Clots arise when platelets and fibrous proteins clump and stick to a vessel wall. This can be a normal, healthy response to trauma – whether that’s a nick upon shaving or surgical incision. In people disposed to DVT, the small clots don’t dissolve properly or may form in the absence of trauma. If a clot expands and propagates from below the knee, for example, to a more central position in the body, that’s called an embolism. Clots are most dangerous when and if they spread to arteries in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism, or to vessels in the brain.The CDC estimates that between 300,000 and 600,000 individuals sustain DVTs and pulmonary embolism in the United States each year, and that between 60, 000 and 100,000 of those are events are lethal. Some people inherit a disposition to clotting that can be evaluated by blood tests. Clots are most common in people who’ve been immobilized, such as after surgery, or are bed-bound with illness. Dehydration compounds the risk. Coach class syndrome refers to the proclivity of some to develop clots upon long-distance travel in a cramped position.Other risk factors for DVT include some malignancies. Cancer, depending on its position, can impede blood flow from the lower body, promoting stasis in the leg veins, or otherwise interfere with clot-dissolving proteins. Some women with autoimmune conditions, like lupus and other syndromes, may be disposed to clotting in veins or arteries. Some medications pose a risk, too. Those include estrogen-containing oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy. In general, high-estrogen states dispose to pathologic blood clots. In younger women, the disposition to blood clotting can manifest during pregnancy.As far as we know, the cause of Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot is uncertain. She is in the hospital being treated with blood thinners. Usually people who have significant blood clots in a deep vein or artery take an anti-coagulant for a period of months. Until recent years, the standard treatment involved injections of heparin, or similar blood thinners, followed by Coumadin, an oral anticoagulant that requires frequent blood checks. Now, there are more options for therapy, including heparin-like agents that can be injected at home.On November 2 of this year, the FDA approved Xarelto (rivaroxaban) for treatment of deep venous thrombosis. This new drug, a pill, works by inhibiting a clotting factor called Xa. While several oral anticoagulants have received approval for prevention of clots in people undergoing surgery, and for prevention of strokes in people with disposing heart problems, Xarelto is the first in this new class of drugs that might be prescribed for treatment of DVT or pulmonary embolism.Before her recent admission to the hospital, the Secretary of State hadn’t said much about what she’ll do when she exits her official office. Popular views include that she’ll get more rest, exercise, spend time with her family, write a book and, possibly, run for President in 2016. Today, she’s presumably resting and, together with her doctors, sorting out the factors that led to her developing a significant blood clot. Good to know that she, like any other informed patient, has several treatment options to consider.Update: The U.S. State Department issued an update on Mrs. Clinton’s condition, clarifying that the Secretary of State has a blood clot in a vein near the inside of the skull, on the right side. According to their statement, she has not suffered a stroke or neurological damage. Photo: State Department’s Tumblr

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Pope marks end of difficult year, notes God’s good

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI marked the end of a difficult year Monday by saying that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails.

Benedict celebrated New Year’s Eve with a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He appeared tired during the service and used a cane afterward — an indication that the busy Christmas season may be taking a toll on the 85-year-old Benedict.

In his homily, Benedict said it’s tough to remember that goodness prevails when bad news — death, violence and injustice — “makes more noise than good.” He said taking time to meditate in prolonged reflection and prayer can help “find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life.”

This past year was full of highs and lows for the pope, including a successful trip to Mexico and Cuba but also the betrayal of his butler, convicted in October of stealing Benedict’s personal papers and leaking them to a journalist.

After the service, Benedict was brought out in a covered car to pray before the Vatican’s main nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. Walking with a cane in the chilly piazza, Benedict chatted animatedly with the artist who crafted the scene, which recreated an entire village from the poor, southern Italian region of Basilicata which donated this year’s crèche.

The Vatican gladly accepted Basilicata’s donation after the €550,000 price tag the Vatican paid for the 2009 nativity scene was revealed in the documentation leaked by Benedict’s ex-butler Paolo Gabriele.

Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He received a pre-Christmas papal pardon and is expected to soon leave his Vatican City apartment for a new home and job elsewhere.

On Tuesday morning, Benedict celebrates a New Year’s Day Mass, which the Catholic Church celebrates as its world day of peace.

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Movers roundup: Facebook, Best Buy

Among the stock activity stories for Monday, Dec. 31, from AP Business News:

— Shares of Facebook Inc. rose after an analyst said advertising spending was picking up on the Internet social network and raised his rating on its stock.

— Shares of Best Buy Co. rose on light volume as the struggling electronics retailer closed out a rocky year.

— Shares of Duff & Phelps Corp. rose on news that the company had agreed to be acquired.

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Is Tom Cruise still a go-to action hero? Hollywood, “Jack Reacher” say yes

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Given his age and the tough year he’s had in the tabloids, is Tom Cruise still a go-to guy when Hollywood is looking for an action hero?

The answer is yes, based on the performance of his current movie, Paramount‘s “Jack Reacher.” It’s taken in $ 45 million in the 10 days since opening with $ 15.6 million in a very crowded and competitive holiday market. Its second week was a solid $ 14 million, and it’s added $ 22 million from overseas.

Holiday movies tend to have legs and “Reacher” has yet to roll out in the majority of major foreign territories, so both of those numbers, particularly the international, will be growing. All signs point to it surpassing $ 200 million at the worldwide box office. That’s not a blockbuster figure, and Paramount is staying mum on a sequel, but with a $ 60 million budget, “Jack Reacher” will make money for Paramount.

There were questions coming in. With his divorce from Katie Holmes and subsequent custody battle, Cruise is carrying plenty of public relations baggage. His foray earlier this year into musicals with “Rock of Ages” was critically applauded but proved a box-office dud. That’s on top of his well-known support for Scientology.

He’s 50 now, which might be the new 40 in the real world, but is starting to get on in years in the realm of action heroes. Daniel Craig is 44. Jeremy Renner is 41. We are a long way from “Top Gun” – that was 1986 – so it probably won’t be too, too long until “The Expendables” franchise comes calling for Cruise.

But in the meantime, “Reacher” is going to be profitable for Paramount and Cruise’s portrayal of the tough, ex-military drifter has drawn critical kudos, so there’s a bit of momentum now. And it’s clear from his upcoming schedule that Hollywood is still convinced he can carry an action film.

Next for Cruise will be two sci-fi movies: Universal’s “Oblivion” is due in April and “All You Need is Kill” is set for March 2014 from Warner Bros. After that, there’s a potential “Van Helsing” remake at Universal and “Mission: Impossible 5″ is on Paramount‘s 2015 slate.

His recent track record at the box office, particularly when you look at his performance in the action genre, suggests the studios are making a pretty good bet.

“Rock of Ages” may have crumpled, but “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” was a huge hit for Paramount, taking in nearly $ 700 million worldwide in 2011. “Knight & Day,” from Fox in 2010, and “Valkyrie,” from United Artists in 2008, both made over $ 200 million worldwide.

Supporting roles in “Tropic Thunder” and “Lions for Lambs” preceded those, but those came on the heels of two Paramount movies: “Mission Impossible 3,” which made nearly $ 400 million worldwide in 2006, and “War of the Worlds,” which did $ 592 million in the previous year.

The bottom line: Hollywood is still convinced you can still take Tom Cruise, movie action hero, to the bank.

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New Year’s Resolutions For Better Health

New Year’s resolutions are typically so singular, self-focused and private. How about making a resolution or two this year that has benefits beyond yourself? Here are some suggestions with lots of links to get you started.

You can help stop the spread of disease. Resolve to get up-to-date on your vaccines. While children have a full slate of vaccines, many adults don’t realize they have regular immunization obligations, too. Getting flu, pertussis, human papillomavirus and other vaccines can protect you and help stop the spread of diseases that harm others. Here’s a great guide to adult immunizations from the federal government. If the cost of vaccines is an issue, check into free or low-cost immunizations through your county’s public health department. Here’s a guide to finding your local office. Volunteer with an organization that needs your help. A group called Catchafire matches professionals who wish to volunteer their skills to organizations that need the help — including many important health organizations. The idea is to give great organizations access to top talent while respecting the professionals’ schedules and making their volunteer work meaningful. Here’s the link. Influence a healthier food climate. Americans spend about half of their food budgets eating out. So we had better demand thorough nutritional information about what we’re getting. Under healthcare reform, many restaurant chains will soon carry nutritional information. But the law has loopholes. If you don’t see the information you’re looking for on salt, fat, calories or other nutrients, ask the restaurant’s manager where you can find it. Nutritional information should be easy to access. Until it is, speak up and ask for it. Do your part to keep down healthcare costs. The Affordable Care Act will bring many consumers into the insurance healthcare system for the first time. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the cost of care. Rising healthcare costs remain a huge issue that could drag down the economy and bedevil some reform efforts. You can help by being a wise healthcare consumer. Read your insurance policy and know what it does and doesn’t cover. Take advantage of free preventive care services and screening tests under the ACA. Shop around for prescriptions to find the cheapest prices. Ask your doctor for generic equivalents. Finally, use your health savings account if your employer offers one. These accounts provide incentives for using your money wisely, shopping around to find the best healthcare prices and weighing the costs and benefits of certain drugs, tests or procedures.  Here’s a guide to understanding how HSAs work. Be responsible about the prescription drugs you store at home. You can reduce your own risk of addiction and lower the risk for others, too, if you are careful about medications kept in your home. This year marked a turning point in the nation’s epidemic of prescription-drug abuse and addiction.  Admissions to addiction treatment centers for use of narcotic painkillers rose 569 percent in the past decade, according to the federal government. More people now die from drug overdoses than from traffic accidents. More than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs, and more than 70 percent of addicts get their drugs through family or friends or by raiding a home medicine cabinet. Dispose of unused medications. The Drug Enforcement Agency operates a National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day a few times a year (the next one is in April), that makes it easy to dispose of dangerous substance.  Go through your home today and collect unused medications. You can take them to a pharmacy for disposal or even flush them down the toilet. Some drugs carry disposal instructions on the label. Here’s information on how to dispose of prescription medications. Be a safe driver. One of the biggest safety issues on the nation’s roads these days is driver distraction. A large share of the distractions come from talking on a hand-held cell phone or text messaging while driving. You’re 23 times more likely to crash if you text while driving. Most states now prohibit texting while driving, but there are still many people who do it while knowing it’s unsafe. Break yourself of this terrible habit. The federal government has a website that provides people with information and tools to discourage distracted driving. Included in this package is a simple pledge sheet you can print out, sign and post on your refrigerator door or bathroom to help you make the commitment. There are a couple of other things you can do, too. Speak out if the driver you’re riding with is distracted. Encourage family and friends to drive phone-free. Run a race for the greater good. Who doesn’t love a good 5K walk or run? You benefit from the exercise and, if you choose a charity race, others reap rewards, too. There are thousands of charity races each year. Pick one and invite your friends to participate with you. Here’s a website to help you find a race.  Apply for a grant. There’s money out there for doing good. Saucony’s Run for Good Foundation aims at preventing child obesity by promoting running as part of a healthy lifestyle for kids. The foundation issues grant money to organizations that want to organize a kids’ running group. You can find information on how to apply at the foundation website. Sign a petition. Concerned about flame retardants in consumer products? Gun safety? Funding for research to fight a particular disease? There’s probably a petition for that. It’s an easy way to make your voice heard. Both change.org and thepetitionsite.com are good places to look to find a petition close to your heart.

Question: What resolutions can you make to help others? Tell us what you think in the comments.

---

Shari Roan is an award-winning health writer based in Southern California. She is the author of three books on health and science subjects.

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Washington pushes United States to edge of “fiscal cliff”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers pushed the country to the edge of the “fiscal cliff” on Sunday as they struggled to reach a last-minute deal that could protect the world’s largest economy from a politically induced recession.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate had hoped to clear the way for swift action that would avert sweeping tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in on Tuesday.

But with the two sides still at loggerheads in talks, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed any possible votes and the Senate adjourned until Monday, leaving mere hours to pass any deal that may emerge through both chambers of a bitterly divided Congress.

“There are still significant differences between the two sides,” Reid said on the Senate floor.

Behind closed doors, the parties kept seeking a way to bridge deep divides over taxes and spending. But even if a deal emerges in the coming hours, under Senate rules any one of the 100 senators could prevent the chamber from acting quickly.

Prospects are also uncertain in the House of Representatives, where dozens of conservative Republicans could oppose any deal that includes a tax increase on the nation’s wealthiest households.

As the hours ticked away, it appeared increasingly likely that Washington’s failure to act would deliver a $ 600 billion hammer blow to the fragile U.S. economic recovery.

“Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to the American economy is the American Congress,” said Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Americans could see a bigger bite taken out of their paychecks starting on Tuesday as payroll and income tax cuts expire, while 2 million unemployed Americans could see their jobless benefits run out. Government contractors might be forced to lay off employees as $ 109 billion in automatic spending cuts kick in, and businesses could lose tax breaks for everything from wind power to research and development.

The uncertainty has weighed on financial markets and forced businesses to slow hiring and investment. Market participants braced for more turbulence on Monday.

“I believe investors will show their displeasure tomorrow by selling stocks if there is no deal,” said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management in New York.

Though corporate chieftains have lobbied lawmakers to show flexibility, Congress also faces pressure from an array of interest groups urging them not to compromise core principles.

Conservative groups have warned Republicans that a vote to increase any taxes could be held against them, while liberal and labor groups have pressed Democrats to resist any benefit cuts to popular retirement and health programs.

Lawmakers may find it easier to act once the country goes over the “fiscal cliff” on January 1, as any new legislation can then be portrayed as a tax cut rather than a tax increase.

POINTS OF DISAGREEMENT

Republicans floated a proposal on Sunday to slow the growth of Social Security retirement benefits by changing the way they are measured against inflation, but they backed away after Democrats said they would not consider it.

Still, there were disagreements over all the major aspects of the negotiation.

Buoyed by his re-election in November, Obama has insisted that any deal must include a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, who have seen their earnings rise steadily over the past decade at a time when income for the less affluent has stalled.

Many conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives oppose a tax hike on anyone, no matter how wealthy.

Obama has proposed raising income taxes on households that earn more than $ 250,000, but Republicans pushed to set the threshold between $ 400,000 and $ 500,000. Republicans also were resisting a Democratic proposal to raise inheritance taxes on the wealthiest estates.

Republicans were looking for new reductions to replace the looming spending cuts, which would fall equally on military and domestic social programs. Democrats say the increased taxes on the wealthy would generate enough revenue to offset those cuts.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell talked several times to Vice President Joe Biden by phone in the hope of breaking the stalemate.

“I’m willing to get this done, but I need a dance partner,” McConnell said.

In a rare appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama accused Republicans of rejecting significant compromises several times already. He said he would try to reverse the tax hikes for most Americans if Congress fails to act.

“If people start seeing that on January 1st this problem still hasn’t been solved … then obviously that’s going to have an adverse reaction in the markets,” he said.

House Speaker John Boehner rejected Obama’s accusations that his fellow Republicans were not being amenable to compromise.

“The president’s comments today are ironic, as a recurring theme of our negotiations was his unwillingness to agree to anything that would require him to stand up to his own party,” he said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by David Gaffen, Thomas Ferraro, Rachelle Younglai, Jeff Mason and Emily Stephenson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)

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Pakistan militants kill 41 in mass execution, attack on Shi’ites

PESHWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani militants, who have escalated attacks in recent weeks, killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials said on Sunday, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups.

The United States has long pressured nuclear-armed ally Pakistan to crack down harder on both homegrown militants groups such as the Taliban and others which are based on its soil and attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

In the north, 21 men working for a government-backed paramilitary force were executed overnight after they were kidnapped last week, a provincial official said.

Twenty Shi’ite pilgrims died and 24 were wounded, meanwhile, when a car bomb targeted their bus convoy as it headed toward the Iranian border in the southwest, a doctor said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has noted more than 320 Shias killed this year in Pakistan and said attacks were on the rise. It said the government’s failure to catch or prosecute attackers suggested it was “indifferent” to the killings.

Pakistan, seen as critical to U.S. efforts to stabilize the region before NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, denies allegations that it supports militant groups like the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network.

Afghan officials say Pakistan seems more genuine than ever about promoting peace in Afghanistan.

At home, it faces a variety of highly lethal militant groups that carry out suicide bombings, attack police and military facilities and launch sectarian attacks like the one on the bus in the southwest.

Witnesses said a blast targeted their three buses as they were overtaking a car about 60 km (35 miles) west of Quetta, capital of sparsely populated Baluchistan province.

“The bus next to us caught on fire immediately,” said pilgrim Hussein Ali, 60. “We tried to save our companions, but were driven back by the intensity of the heat.”

Twenty people had been killed and 24 wounded, said an official at Mastung district hospital.

CONCERN OVER EXTREMIST SUNNI GROUPS

International attention has focused on al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.

But Pakistani intelligence officials say extremist Sunni groups, lead by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) are emerging as a major destabilizing force in a campaign designed to topple the government.

Their strategy now, the officials say, is to carry out attacks on Shi’ites to create the kind of sectarian tensions that pushed countries like Iraq to the brink of civil war.

As elections scheduled for next year approach, Pakistanis will be asking what sort of progress their leaders have made in the fight against militancy and a host of other issues, such as poverty, official corruption and chronic power cuts.

Pakistan’s Taliban have carried out a series of recent bold attacks, as military officials point to what they say is a power struggle in the group’s leadership revolving around whether it should ease attacks on the Pakistani state and join groups fighting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

The Taliban denies a rift exists among its leaders.

In the attack in the northwest, officials said they had found the bodies of 21 men kidnapped from their checkpoints outside the provincial capital of Peshawar on Thursday. The men were executed one by one.

“They were tied up and blindfolded,” Naveed Anwar, a senior administration official, said by telephone.

“They were lined up and shot in the head,” said Habibullah Arif, another local official, also by telephone.

One man was shot and seriously wounded but survived, the officials said. He was in critical condition and being treated at a local hospital. Another had escaped before the shootings.

Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan claimed responsibility for the attacks.

“We killed all the kidnapped men after a council of senior clerics gave a verdict for their execution. We didn’t make any demand for their release because we don’t spare any prisoners who are caught during fighting,” he said.

The powerful military has clawed back territory from the Taliban, but the kidnap and executions underline the insurgents’ ability to mount high-profile, deadly attacks in major cities.

This month, suicide bombers attacked Peshawar’s airport on December 15 and a bomb killed a senior Pashtun nationalist politician and eight other people at a rally on December 22.

(Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in DERA ISMAIL KHAN and Gul Yousufzai in QUETTA; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Michael Georgy and Ron Popeski)

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Kobe Bryant Finally Joins Twitter — Kind Of

Long among the sports world’s biggest Twitter holdouts, Kobe Bryant has finally joined the social network. But he hasn’t opened an account, and won’t be around for long.

Social savvy fans are being blessed with his presence thanks to Nike Basketball, which has turned over its account to Bryant since Tuesday.

[More from Mashable: Avery Johnson’s Teenage Son Unloads on Twitter After NBA Firing]

Nike Basketball, which sponsors Bryant and produces his official sneaker, announced the Kobe takeover in a Christmas Day tweet. The account’s name is now “Kobe Bryant” although its handle remains @nikebasketball. Kobe has spent the past few days tweeting about a variety of subjects using a series of hashtags that play off the theme #counton-fill-in-the-blank.

He’s tweeted about the Lakers progress as a team:

[More from Mashable: FanDuel Is Fantasy Sports With a Twist]

He’s tweeted behind-the-scenes snippets of training and treatment:

And he’s tweeted a totally normal, typical, everyday holiday family portrait:

Bryant actually joined Twitter for realsies back in 2011, but then deleted the account after racking up more than 35,000 followers in a just a few hours. He’s one of the NBA’s few stars without a Twitter presence. Nearly 90% of the league’s players are on the social network, according to Twitter.

But Bryant did become much more active on Facebook this summer, especially while traveling with the United States’ Olympic basketball team. He has nearly 15 million fans there, and reportedly writes his status updates and messages himself, with editing and actual posting done by support staff. In November he asked Facebook fans whether to join Instagram or Twitter next, and on Monday hinted in a status update that he may soon open an Instagram account.

What athletes would you most like to see get more active on social media? Let us know in the comments.

BONUS: 30 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts This NBA SEASON

1. @NBA

The NBA is arguably the world’s most engaging sports league on social media. Follow its official Twitter account for news, highlights and promotions.

Click here to view this gallery.

Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr, Keith Allison

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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UK “X Factor” winner regains top chart spot

LONDON (Reuters) – James Arthur, winner of this year’s British version of the “X Factor” TV talent show, saw his debut single climb back to number one in the British pop charts on Sunday.

Arthur’s “Impossible” shot straight to the top earlier this month but was overtaken last week by a tribute song to the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”, a version of the ballad that was a worldwide hit for The Hollies.

That song has now slipped to fifth position, according to the Official Charts Company listings.

“Scream and Shout” by will.i.am, featuring Britney Spears, stayed at two while Psy’s monster video hit “Gangnam Style” was up three places to third.

In the album charts, British singer Emeli Sande stayed top with “Our Version Of Events”, with Olly Murs‘ “Right Place, Right Time” unchanged at two.

Rihanna was up three places to third with “Unapologetic”.

(Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Analysis: After “fiscal cliff” dive, more battles, new cliffs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Whether or not the “fiscal cliff” impasse is broken before the New Year’s Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington.

With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff’s steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending.

The first will come in late February when the Treasury Department runs out of borrowing authority and has to come to Congress to get the debt ceiling raised.

The next is likely in late March, when a temporary bill to fund the government runs out, confronting Congress with a deadline to act or face a government shutdown. The third will possibly be whenever the temporary bill replacing the temporary bill expires.

While Congress is supposed to pass annual spending bills before the start of each fiscal year, it has failed to complete that process since 1996, resorting to stopgap funding ever since.

Influential anti-tax activist Grover Norquist predicted in an interview with Reuters that conservatives would wage repeated battles with President Barack Obama to demand budget savings every time the government needs a temporary funding bill or more borrowing capacity.

The so-called “continuing resolutions” to which a divided Congress has increasingly resorted to keep the government operating, provide a “very powerful tool” to pry out spending cuts, said Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said he will not be satisfied until there are substantial cuts to federal retirement and healthcare benefits known as entitlements, producing savings in the $ 4.5 trillion to $ 5 trillion range.

“Unfortunately for America,” said Corker, “the next line in the sand will be the debt ceiling.”

Most observers see the $ 16.4 trillion debt limit as the true fiscal cliff in the new year because if not increased, it would eventually lead to a default on U.S. Treasury debt, an event that could prove cataclysmic for financial markets.

The Treasury Department said on Wednesday it would start taking extraordinary measures by December 31 to extend its borrowing capacity for about two more months.

‘POISONOUS CLIMATE’

It was a deadlock over raising the debt ceiling in August 2011 that prompted a deficit reduction deal that led to a key fiscal cliff component, the $ 109 billion in automatic spending cuts on military and domestic programs.

If the fiscal cliff’s spending cuts or tax increases are left even partly unresolved on December 31, the political combat over them will carry over into the new Congress, possibly simultaneously with the debt ceiling debate.

“We would be pessimistic of a quick fix” if the deadline is missed, Sean West, head U.S. analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said in a note to clients. “The political climate will be poisoned. The new Congress will need time to settle in.”

“We are concluding one of the most unsuccessful Congresses in history,” Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan declared in a statement on Saturday, “noteworthy not only for its failure to accomplish anything of importance, but also for the poisonous climate of the institution.”

Dingell, 86, is the longest serving member of the House, elected first in 1955.

Historically, bitter struggles in Congress like that over the fiscal cliff lead to further resentment and strife in a cycle of cumulative grudges that now spans nearly 30 years.

Many analysts and lobbyists in Washington believe the strife could get even worse because the new Congress convening on January 3 will include fewer members from moderate or swing districts and more from districts tilted heavily to the left or the right.

Republicans in particular are likely to face their most serious re-election challenges in 2014 not from Democrats but from conservative Republicans challenging them in primary elections.

“Ironically,” said a post-election analysis published by the law firm Patton Boggs, “the voters have elected a 113th Congress that may be even more partisan than the 112th.”

(Reporting by David Lawder and Fred Barbash; Editing by Eric Beech)

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