The Year in Political Showdowns

Obama and Republicans duked it out over the economy.

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Debt Ceiling Crisis - President Obama and congressional Republicans spent the summer in a heated battle over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. They ultimately reached a deal that included the creation of the Joint Economic Committee on Deficit Reduction, or super committee, to make significant cuts in government spending, but the agreement came too late to prevent a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating.(Photo: AP Photo/Kevin Lamarque, POOL)

American Jobs Act - Following months of challenges from congressional Republicans to show them a jobs plan, President Obama gave them the American Jobs Act. Unsurprisingly, GOP lawmakers then rejected the bill, forcing President Obama to use executive orders to implement it in parts. He’s also issued a challenge of his own to Republicans: Explain to Americans why they can’t support measures in the bill that they’ve supported in the past.(Photo: AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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American Jobs Act - Following months of challenges from congressional Republicans to show them a jobs plan, President Obama gave them the American Jobs Act. Unsurprisingly, GOP lawmakers then rejected the bill, forcing President Obama to use executive orders to implement it in parts. He’s also issued a challenge of his own to Republicans: Explain to Americans why they can’t support measures in the bill that they’ve supported in the past.(Photo: AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Public-Sector Jobs - State and local governments would receive less assistance from the federal government and be forced to tighten their belts even more than they're already struggling to do. The inevitable layoffs that would occur would impact African-Americans more because they tend to work in public-sector jobs at a slightly higher rate than whites.(Photo: REUTERS/Darren Hauck/Landov)

3 / 5

Wisconsin Labor War - For weeks, the nation was riveted by the spectacle of Wisconsin union members and their supporters taking over the state house and the Democratic senators who fled the state to avoid a vote on an anti-union bill. They fought the law but the governor won, for now at least. He is now facing the possibility of a recall election.(Photo: Darren Hauck/Landov)

Super Committee - The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction consisted of six Republicans and six Democrats tasked with making major reductions in the federal budget or else trigger across-the-board cuts of $1 trillion in defense and domestic spending, beginning in 2013. They failed to do so.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

4 / 5

Super Committee - The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction consisted of six Republicans and six Democrats tasked with making major reductions in the federal budget or else trigger across-the-board cuts of $1 trillion in defense and domestic spending, beginning in 2013. They failed to do so.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Payroll Tax Holiday - Deal or no deal, lawmakers are likely to allow the temporary Social Security payroll tax holiday to expire and the rate will increase by 2 percent. That means an average $40 less per paycheck. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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Payroll Tax Cut Extension - It wouldn’t be Christmas without a year-end showdown between Democrats and Republicans over a budget issue. Although Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill Democrats supported, their House counterparts dug in their heels for a different deal. While the uncertainty was bad for struggling Americans, Democrats won the PR war, and as Speaker John Boehner and his uncontrollable Tea Party freshman looked increasingly like the Grinches who stole Christmas,  they eventually caved.(Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)