Obama gives ground on taxes in latest offer, as Boehner's office
calls it 'right direction'  Dec. 17, 2012: A man walks past the
U.S. Capitol Building in Washington.Reuters  Both sides in the
federal talks to avert a year-end fiscal crisis signaled late
Monday that significant progress had been made, with sources
saying President Obama had offered a higher threshold for tax
rate increases and with House Speaker Boehner's office calling
it "a step in the right direction."  The late-day developments
followed a 45-minute meeting between Obama and Boehner at the
White House, underscoring the seriousness of the talks as the
deadline approaches for a deal to stop massive automatic
spending cuts and tax hikes from kicking in at the start of the
new year.  Obama's most recent offer included $1.2 trillion in
increased revenue over 10 years, with tax rate hikes on
individual income above $400,000, a source familiar with the
negotiations told Fox News. That would be a sharp departure from
the president's past stance aga