Update: This session of Office Hours has concluded. Check out the full Q&A below, or at Storify.com/whitehouse.

This week, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 into law. That means middle-class families won't see an increase in their income tax rates, and the fiscal cliff has been avoided.

Do you have questions about the deal and how it will impact you? Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, will be on hand to answer your questions during a session of White House Office Hours on Twitter with Yahoo! Finance.

Join us on Friday, January 4th at 11:30 a.m. ET for a live Twitter Q&A. Here’s how it works:

• Ask your questions now and during the chat with the hashtag #fiscalcliff411
• Follow the Q&A live through @WHLive and @YahooFinance
• If you miss the Q&A, the full session will be posted on WhiteHouse.gov

During a session of White House Office Hours on Twitter, Brian Deese, the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, answers questions about the new agreement to extend tax cuts for the middle class. January 4, 2013.

Ed. note: The application for the Summer 2013 White House Internship Program is now open. This blog post introduces readers to Simon Boehme, a former intern who worked in the Office of Management and Administration in the summer of 2011. When asked about his internship experience, Simon writes:

When people ask about my time as a White House intern, a smile emerges before I say anything at all. After a rush of nostalgia, I often refer to the extraordinary opportunities and memories forged throughout my time as an intern. But, what resonates most, when reflecting on my internship experience, is the importance of always giving back.

Inspired by the President and the First Family’s commitment to helping others and making America stronger, White House interns play an integral role in furthering this mission. In addition to the opportunity to work in one of 16 different departments in the White House, interns also participate in community service projects throughout Washington, D.C. For example, within the first week of my internship, my fellow interns and I helped clean a local park, and over the course of the term, our service expanded to serving at food banks, supporting the elderly and tutoring schoolchildren.

President Barack Obama waves goodbye after talking with summer interns from the White House Internship Program in the Rose Garden of the White House, Aug. 10, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

UPDATE: The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was also passed by a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives on January 1, 2013.

President Obama has repeatedly called this a make-or-break moment for the middle class. That's why we worked with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to reach an agreement that keeps income taxes low for the middle class and helps to grow the economy. And as the President promised, millionaires and billionaires will also begin doing more to help pay down the deficit through a combination of permanent tax rate increases and reduced tax benefits. 

This is the first time in twenty years that a bipartisan agreement has increased tax rates on the wealthy. Additionally, this deal ensures that America will continue to invest in education, clean energy, and manufacturing to strengthen our economy and the middle class. 

As President Obama noted in a statement about the deal, while neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country. And the President looks forward to working with Republicans to reduce the deficit in a balanced and bipartisan way.

The agreement passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate last night permanently extends the middle-class tax cuts and also extends credits for working families. It provides additional measures to protect families and promote economic growth. The lower tax rates, an expanded Child Tax Credit, and marriage penalty relief  will provide certainty for 114 million households and together will prevent the typical family of four from seeing a $2,200 tax increase.

By raising income tax rates on the wealthiest and keeping taxes low for the middle class, it means we will now have the most progressive tax code in decades. The agreement also prevents two million people from losing unemployment insurance benefits in January by extending emergency UI benefits for one year.

President Obama urges Congress to meet its deadlines and responsibilities, protect the middle class from an income tax hike, and lay the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction. 

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

President Barack Obama delivers a statement to the press in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Dec. 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

With just four days left before tax rates are scheduled to rise, President Obama met with Senate and House leaders at the White House to talk about how Congress can prevent every American from seeing a smaller paycheck next week.

Speaking in the Brady Press Briefing room after that meeting, the President characterized the discussion as "good and constructive" and said that he is optimistic an agreement that can pass both houses will be reached in time. But he warned Congress that the American people are losing patience, and that they must act now: 

if an agreement isn’t reached in time between Senator Reid and Senator McConnell, then I will urge Senator Reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote –- one that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends the vital lifeline of unemployment insurance to two million Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future cooperation on more economic growth and deficit reduction. 

I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities as long as those leaders allow it to actually come to a vote. If members of the House or the Senate want to vote no, they can –- but we should let everybody vote.  That’s the way this is supposed to work. If you can get a majority in the House and you can get a majority in the Senate, then we should be able to pass a bill. 

President Barack Obama delivers remarks as he and First Lady Michelle Obama visit with members of the military and their families at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Dec. 25, 2012. (by Pete Souza)

Continuing what has become an annual tradition that is a highlight of their holiday celebrations, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama spent some time on Christmas Day at the Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. 

The First Couple was there to visit with military families, and to thank them for the extraordinary work they do each and every day:

Obviously, the greatest honor I have as President is being Commander-in-Chief. And the reason it’s an honor is because not only do we have the finest military in the world but we also have the finest fighting men and women in the world. And so many of you make sacrifices day in, day out on behalf of our freedom, on behalf of our security.  

And not only do those in uniform make sacrifices, but I think everybody here understands the sacrifices that families make each and every day as well.  And Michelle, working with Dr. Jill Biden, has done a lot of work to focus attention on our military families to make sure that you get the support that you have earned and that you deserve.

So I’m not going to make a long speech. Obviously, we’re still in a wartime footing. There are still folks, as we speak, who are overseas, especially in Afghanistan, risking their lives each and every day. Some of you may have loved ones who are deployed there.  Some of you may be about to be deployed there. And so we know that it’s not easy. But what we also want you to know is that you have the entire country behind you, and that all of us understand that we would be nowhere without the extraordinary service that you guys provide.

And so we want to say thank you, we love you. 

Watch the President's full remarks

Welcome to the "Best of the West (Wing Week)!"  That's right, folks, West Wing Week took some time over the holidays to reflect on a busy year in video, and to bring you some highlights from the archive. But first, a quick wrap up of the President's week.

It was a busy year for President Obama and his Administration, and a look at some of the most viewed blog posts from whitehouse.gov throughout the year provides a quick snapshot of 2012 at the White House.

January: Early in the year, Congress was evaluating two legislative approaches to combat online piracy, and petitions submitted to the White House's petition platform, We the People, about Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN) crossed the threshold for a response from the White House. A post explaining the Administration’s desire for legislation that protects intellectual property online but does not threaten an open and innovative internet was widely viewed and shared by our readers.

February: On February 7, more than 100 students from over 45 states brought their robots, research and new inventions to Washington for the second-ever White House Science Fair. The honorees met with Senior Administration officials, educators, and leading advocates for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math training, and some got the chance to show their projects to the President. A post and video recapping the day was a highlight that month.

March: Since taking office, the President and First Lady have made it their mission to open up the White House to as many people as possible and the annual Easter Egg Roll is the day that sees more Americans coming to visit than any other. This year more than 35,000 tickets were issued via the public lottery, and the blog post announcing how people could enter was the most viewed post in March.

The Energy Department's Los Alamos National Lab is tracking Santa Claus as he circles the globe the night before Christmas.

Ed. note: This is cross-posted from energy.gov

Every year since 1998, the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Lab has been using state-of-the-art technology to track Santa Claus as he circles the globe the night before Christmas. You'll be able to monitor St. Nick's journey here starting at 6 am ET on Christmas Eve.

Since Santa doesn’t file his flight path with the Federal Aviation Administration, Los Alamos uses the latest technology to track his whereabouts on the globe, particularly the Cibola Flight Experiment (CFE) and Fast On-orbit Recording of TransientEvents (FORTE) satellites.

These satellites were built respectively by Los Alamos National Lab and another partnership with Sandia National Labs, and mark a significant technological leap in the size of satellites and their abilities. They were originally put into their low-earth orbits (meaning an altitude of 1,200 miles) to help detect nuclear detonations and study lightning from space.