The fiscal cliff has economists and politicians in a tailspin. The term is used to describe what will happen if Congress fails to come to an agreement on budget cuts or tax increases by the end of the year. Some say the term is inaccurate, and somewhat alarmist. Linda Wertheimer talks to linguist and Boston Globe language columnist Ben Zimmer about the origin of the term fiscal cliff.
FBI agents believe they have a credible lead on the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa's body. If they're right, it will solve a longstanding mystery, which will also deflate Hoffa's resonance in popular culture.
The legislation is one of the most far-reaching abortion bills in decades and follows the May murder convictions of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. The bill, which would ban nearly all abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization, is unlikely to ever become law.
Profits for the nation's carmakers are on the rise, but after years of doing more with less, higher profits are unlikely to translate into significant numbers of new jobs. There are eight fewer plants and hundreds of thousands fewer workers in the industry than before the Great Recession.