10:36 am Sun November 11, 2012  Challenges Stacked For Obama's
Second Term    This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel
Martin. A newly re-elected President Barack Obama won't
officially begin his second term until he is sworn in again on
January 20th. But some of the priorities of his next four years
in office are already taking shape, and the challenges are
becoming more apparent. NPR's national political correspondent
Mara Liasson joins us now to talk more about all this. Hey,
Mara.   MARTIN: So, right out of the gate, the first thing the
president has to deal with is coming up with a deficit reduction
deal with Republicans before this big combination of tax
increases and spending cuts takes effect January 1st. Mara, are
President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner any better
positioned now to reach a deal than they were last year?
LIASSON: I think they are. The president certainly is. He feels
his hand has been strengthened. He just won a pretty definitive
victory. He didn't just squeak through