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Melissa Block talks with Senator Mark Warner of Virginia about the looming so-called "fiscal cliff" and what steps might be taken now that the election is over.

With the election over, attention in Washington has turned to the nation's debt and deficit challenges — most immediately the looming fiscal cliff. That's the $600 billion worth of expiring tax breaks and automatic spending cuts set to start taking effect Jan. 1.

The president and Congress agreed to those automatic measures to force themselves to find a more palatable compromise to rein in deficits. On Wednesday, there was an attempt to jump-start that process.

In his victory speech Tuesday night in Chicago, President Obama signaled his desire to find a compromise. He said the priorities for his second term include deficit reduction. Eighteen hours later at the Capitol, House Speaker John Boehner offered the president a tentative olive branch.

"Mr. President, the Republican majority here in the House stands ready to work with you, to do what's best for our country," Boehner said.

Last year, Boehner's House Republicans steadfastly refused to raise taxes to reach the balanced deficit-reducing budget compromise sought by the president, one that included both tax increases and spending cuts. On Wednesday, Boehner suggested that had changed.

The Two-Way

Shake A Leg Or Throw A Fist? Which Will It Be On Capitol Hill?

It's been an eventful week in politics, but now what? The fiscal cliff looms, the Republican Party does some soul searching, and some are asking, did the elections change anything? Melissa Block talks with our regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of the New York Times.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

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