The year 2012 was a busy year, but some of the biggest news was in regards to business and the environment.
End of year brings major struggle over fiscal cliff
Negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff grabbed most of the recent headlines. American Family Radio's financial expert Dan Celia said that it felt like talks were taking place in the media rather than at the bargaining table.
"Here's what happens," says Celia. "The news media reports on what Boehner said. The president responds. The news media reports that. Then the news media reports on what all the pundits say."
Meanwhile, some lawmakers, think-tanks and special interests were upset by everything from the plans proposed to the lack of details in the plans themselves.
ObamaCare ruling
Another crucial decision in 2012 occurred when the Supreme Court upheld much of the new healthcare law. Still, libertarians and conservatives were pleased with the high court's ruling that states did not have to participate in the massive Medicaid expansion, as called for in the new law.
Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute said about the ruling: "The way Medicaid works is the federal government pays for a little more than half of each state's Medicaid program, and the state kicks in the other half. What the federal government said in Obamacare is you have to expand your Medicaid program dramatically -- and if you don't, then you're going to lose all federal Medicaid funds. For the average state, that's 12 percent of their budget."
Gov't regulations, environment concerns
When it came to regulations in 2012, Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute felt it was an average year. That was not to say, however, that there were not new regulations enacted.
"As of December 3, there were 3,392 final rules that had been published in the Federal Register," Young explained. "It really does affect everything, but it affects the energy industry, power plants that are powered by coal, most severely. In the next few months, EPA is going to pass regulations that will essentially make it impossible to open new coal-fired power plants."
Part of the Obama administration's reasoning for energy regulations had to do with the environment. Environmentalists claimed they were necessary to protect air, water and other qualities of life, while curbing the amount of emissions into the atmosphere.
Climate-change skeptics, however, argued that the U.S. already has some of the toughest regulations in the world when it comes to protecting the environment.
Superstorm Sandy was among the natural disasters cited as evidence of a changing climate, while 2012 was deemed one of the hottest years ever in U.S. history despite it being only slightly warmer than the previous record year. The records only go back to the late 1800s.
Regardless, Marc Morano of Climate Depot commented: "The continental U.S., which is what they're talking about, is less than two percent of the earth's surface. We've had no global warming, according to the database in the UK Meteorological Office, for 16 years."
Right-to-work laws
Michigan became a right-to-work state in 2012, following Indiana's lead earlier in the year. They are the only right-to-work states in the Great Lakes region, although James Sherk, senior policy analyst in labor economics for The Heritage Foundation said other states in that area could follow in the New Year.
"Right now," said Sherk, "you don't see that happening. But what's going to happen is that with Indiana and Michigan becoming right-to-work states, they're going to become much, much more attractive to businesses to invest and locate in because right-to-work makes union organizers less aggressive. There is simply less money on the line for them, because they can't force workers to pay these dues once they organize the company."
Big Apple ban
The Big Apple banned large sodas and other sugary beverages in 2012, specifically those larger than 16 ounces. Restaurants, movie theaters and street carts were included, but grocery stores got an exemption.
The idea came from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said it would help in the fight against obesity.
However, the soda industry and conservative groups pointed to a decline in soda sales as evidence that soda was not necessarily to blame. Meanwhile, refills were not included in the ban.
Conservatives and chicken
Finally, if there is one thing the country may have learned in 2012, it was not to stand in the way of conservatives and chicken sandwiches. A Chick-fil-A "buycott" was organized in August to show support for Chick-fil-A leader Dan Cathy amid criticism for his statement that legalizing same-sex "marriage" is "inviting God's judgment on our nation."
Art Ally of the mutual fund company The Timothy Plan said about Cathy: "I don't just believe in God. I believe God. His Word is so clear. All I can say is God bless Dan Cathy."
Former Arkansas governor-turned-commentator Mike Huckabee also supported Chick-fil-A Day.