President heads to Hawaii with fiscal cliff crisis averted - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

President heads to Hawaii with fiscal cliff crisis averted

By: CBS4 News, newsroom@cbs4qc.com

Update:  

With the fiscal cliff averted, President Barack Obama is getting ready to leave Washington and return to Hawaii.  The President spent five days of vacation with his family in Hawaii before returning to the White House last Thursday to meet with congressional leaders in fiscal cliff negotiations.

President Barack Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room he will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest two percent of Americans while preventing tax hikes that could have sent the economy back into recession.  He spoke with Vice President Joe Biden at his side, a recognition of Biden taking the lead Democratic negotiating role in final compromise talks with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.  

Previous Story:

Nearly 24 hours after the fiscal cliff deadline,  the House has approved a bill that could keep the U.S. from falling into another recession. 

The House voted 257 to 167, approving the bill just before 10 pm Tuesday night.  The bill, approved by the Senate earlier Tuesday,  prevents tax hikes for families making less than $450,000 a year and delays spending cuts for at least 2 months.

The bill now heads to President Obama for his signature. 

It's been a tough go in Washington all day.  Earlier Tuesday, House Republicans left a closed-door meeting with a deal still up in the air because they wanted more spending cuts. 

But it's out of the frying pan and into the fire for congress.  Lawmakers will have another standoff to deal with next month when lawmakers must raise the $16.4 trillion federal borrowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills.