In the end the Republicans are likely to put up only token resistance, in part because some of the president's moves are popular (two-thirds of Americans approve of his clemency towards the dreamers, for example).

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At the same token, a potential pick-up of U.S. growth into 2Q13 are set to support inflation expectations.

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Knowing that without Windows they have only inert beige boxes to sell, few put up more than a token protest.

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Abandoning the link to gold meant that it was entirely up to governments to ensure that their token-based currencies kept their value.

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But by the same token, Medicare Part D represented a giveaway to prop up the very part of the drug industry that is dying.

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Huffpo publishes hundreds of blog posts, so if it were to pay even a token amount for each one, the sums would add up pretty quickly.

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The Americans gave Mr Saakashvili token help when they transported Georgian troops home from Iraq (where 2, 000 of them made up the third-largest allied contingent).

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Tweaking Microsoft, Schmidt has moved to snap up online companies that can offer desktop-style applications for free, posing at least a token threat to Microsoft's money-spewing Office suite.

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