Even after reaching deals to avoid the fiscal cliff crisis and to temporarily avert a debt ceiling debacle, Republicans in Congress are still playing hard-ball when it comes to the long-term financial future of the U.S.

The latest proof? Rep. Paul Ryan’s appearance today on NBC’s Meet the Press. During it, the former vice presidential candidate insisted that the GOP was willing to let the sequester cuts happen, if they were unable to strike a deal to their liking with House Democrats.

The recent deals over the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling did not fully fix the looming crisis of sequestration. This threat has loomed over head since the 2011 debt ceiling crisis was resolved, and though Congress has resolved many of the issues born from that deal, sequestration is not one of them. Read 

Outspoken New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is getting a financial boost from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Christie is seeking a second terms as the Garden State’s chief executive this November. Zuckenberg and his wife will hold a fundraiser for the maverick Republican at their home in California next month, Reuters notes.

A vocal advocate of federal assistance in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which battered the New Jersey coast last fall, Christie has seen his approval numbers surge in public opinion polls, which place him well ahead of any potential Democrat challenger. Read 

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order today that formally allows women to take on combat roles in the military.

In signing the order, the Pentagon swept away generations of limits for women in their military participation, even as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put many women on the front lines anyways. The positions included in this order specifically include infantry, front-line artillery, armor, special operations, and pararescue, as well as Navy positions on smaller attack submarines.

Even with this order, there is no guarantee that women will take on these positions. There is no indication that military leaders will lower the physical standards for some of the more arduous front-line duties, like tank loading, just to ensure there are women present. Read 

President Barack Obama will tap former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White to replace Mary Schapiro as head of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Noted for prosecuting the man who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, as well as organized crime head John Gotti, White left the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2002 and now runs the litigation department at Debevoise & Plimpton, the Associated Press notes.

Administration officials note that during her time as U.S. Attorney, White also prosecuted financial fraud and securities cases. She’s expected to advance the Obama administration’s Wall Street reform agenda at the SEC, if she’s confirmed by the Senate. Read 

Unions have had a rough time in recent years. Both Indiana and Michigan recently passed right-to-work laws, forbidding unions from collecting a fee from non-union members in a workplace, and Wisconsin’s 2011 stripping unions of collective bargaining rights is still making its way through court challenges.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that, with all the political efforts being made against them, and with the changing nature of labor in America, that unions have been hurting for membership recently. How badly they’ve been hurting, though, has just recently come into focus.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of union members in the workforce fell by 400,000 last year, to 14.3 million. This represents just 11.3% of the working population, the lowest level since 1916. Read 

Golf pro Phil Mickelson is backing away from comments he made about California’s controversial Proprosition 30 over the weekend at the Humana Challenge.

Mickelson said on Sunday that November’s passage of the new law, which increases state income taxes on wealthy Californians, might force him to leave the state. On Monday, he released a statement apologizing for the comments, saying his opinions on taxes and finances should have remained a personal matter, the New York Daily News noted.

Under Proposition 30, state income taxes on high-earning Californians jumped to 13.3%, a 29.13% increase. Prior to the proposition’s passage, the tax was the highest in the U.S.  Mickelson said on Sunday the tax hike, coupled with increased federal income taxes, would mean he’ll end up paying 63% of his income in taxes. Read