In this sentence, 'game' means wild animals that are hunted for food or for sport. See - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_(food)

"Set to rise' means that in the future something is expected to rise. The text is talking about a projection for 2013 and 2014. Another example could be, "Tomorrow the river IS SET TO RISE to 6 meters when the flood reaches it's peak'. "We see that unemployment is rising again' is present tense. For example, "The statistics for 2012 have just been released and we see that unemployment is rising again'.

Runaway just means something is out of control. "The runaway car rolled down the hill and crashed into the school". Runaway debt means the government is spending a lot more money than they are receiving. The level of debt that they are creating is out of control - 'runaway national debt'. Looming is used to describe something big that will happen in the future. "The looming storm will damage many houses". Across the board means something that will apply to everyone or everything. "The company gave an across the board bonus at Christmas". So combining them, 'looming across-the-board' means something big that will happen in the future and apply to everyone or everything. "Take effect absent' is a way of saying something will happen regardless of something else. Even though they do not have a deficit reduction agreement, the spending cuts will happen anyway.

'Filibuster' is a method used in some parliaments around the world where one or more people talk for a very very long time about something that has been proposed. They talk for so long that it delays or in some cases completely prevents the vote on the proposal. 'Maneuver' in this case is just a move or tactic made to gain an advantage. It could also be used to describe warfare or sport. "The boxer was able to maneuver his way out of the corner of the ring and attack his opponent". "The ship was able to maneuver itself to within range to shoot the building"

There is very little difference between the sentences. Both are correct and mean the same thing.