Business_Finance

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Before he was D.C. Council chairman, Phil Mendelson urged that D.C. police Sgt. Mark Robinson be regarded as a whistleblower, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Times. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** Tucked into the “fiscal cliff” tax package approved by Congress this week were billions of dollars in tax breaks, including a tax credit for the production of wind, solar and other renewable energy. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico on April 21, 2010. (Associated Press)

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Members of Congress line the steps to the Senate door of the Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, as Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., second from right, accompanied by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., right, and Vice President Joe Biden, waves as he walks the steps to mark his return to Congress. Kirk said he often visualized climbing the 45 steps of the U.S. Capitol as a source of inspiration during his months of grueling physical therapy after suffering a major stroke last year. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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Holiday shoppers make their way through the Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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President Obama waves as he deplanes from Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The president is back in Hawaii for vacation after a tense, end-of-the-new-year standoff with Congress over the "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Obama salutes as he deplanes from Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The president is back in Hawaii for vacation after a tense, end-of-the-new-year standoff with Congress over the "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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President Obama and Vice President Biden make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Jan. 2, 2013. (Associated Press)