Obama signs "fiscal cliff" bill into law

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a "fiscal¹ cliff" bill into law that raises tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and extends tax cuts for most of the U.S. households, the White House said early Thursday.

Obama signed the "American Taxpayer² Relief Act of 2012" late Wednesday, raising taxes on households earning above 450,000 U.S. dollars and delaying across-the-board spending cuts for two months, the White House said.

The Republican-controlled House approved the bill by a 257-167 vote late Tuesday after the Democratic-led Senate passed it 89-8.

Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, signed the bill using an autopen.

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。