Obama Hawaii Vacation: President Leaving Friday Afternoon After Payroll Tax Cut Settled

HONOLULU — President Barack Obama is starting his delayed Christmas vacation in Hawaii after securing an agreement to extend payroll tax cuts into 2012.

Air Force One touched down in Honolulu Friday evening. The president had planned to start his vacation Dec. 17, but delayed his departure amid a congressional stalemate over the tax cuts.

The president is joining wife Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, who have been in Hawaii for about a week. The Obamas are expected to stay in Hawaii, the state where the president was born and mostly raised, until early January.

The White House says Obama has no public events scheduled during his trip. A small team of White House advisers is traveling with the president to brief him on domestic and international developments.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Joseph E Barki III]

03:47 PM on 12/29/2011

I am confused why this story is fronted a headline spot on AOL now, when it is 6 days old. It makes it appear he missed Christmas with the family, if its just an old story take it down!

[skeakins]

01:59 PM on 12/26/2011

Obama's insistance on extending the tax cuts for only 2 months will cost the taxpayers huge dollars as now we must fight this battle all over again in 6 weeks...all so he can take a $4 million vacation. This guy is lapping up the luxury afforded him by the US taxpayer and it's disgusting. He certainly doesn't practice what he preaches...kinda like Michelle and her diet.

This just goes to prove...you can take the man out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the man. The first family is apparently so caught up in their new found money and spending sprees, (using our money), and livin' high that they are unconcerned about the rest of the country.

Once again, Obama uses poor judgement.

[pb31]

01:49 PM on 01/02/2012

President Obama wanted the extension to last until at least the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2012), but Republicans in Congress blocked that. Finally, Senate Republicans relented on a two month extension with the unrelated Keystone Pipeline provision attached (which will kill the pipeline because the information cannot be obtained in 60 days). That was the best that Obama could get to assure that taxes on wage earners will not increase Jan. 1st. Obama made clear that he wants the tax cut extended "without drama." If you want to blame someone for the brevity of the extension, blame the Republicans who would not give the President a clean bill and, contrary to their stand on tax cuts for the wealthy, insisted that it be "paid for" but opposed a 3 percentage point tax increase on income over a million dollars.

Republicans in Congress, I am sure, will attach a bunch of unrelated measures to the longer extension that, if accepted, would hurt the poor and middle class and destroy any economic good that might be done by the tax cuts. Their goal is to destroy the economy further in order to defeat Obama. Mitch McConnell essentially announced that as their plan.

As for your racial slur, it speaks for itself.

[skeakins]

02:47 PM on 01/02/2012

The problem is that the tax cuts should not have been extended in the first place. The cut comes directly out of social security contributions and will ultimately be harmful to the middle and lower class. We have more senior citizens than ever beofre and Obama's extension proposal assures that there will be no SS funds available.

The tax cut amounts to $19 per week for the majority, before taxes. It will represent a loss of SS benefits averaging $231 per week. When will the Dems look to the future instead of their knee-jerk methods in order to gain votes?

The Canadian pipeline is a must...particularly in light of the prospect of Iran gaining nuclear weapons.

The Rupublicans have no intention of furthering this poor economy, created by the Democrats and have passed bill after bill trying to fix it.

There were no racial slurs intended...just stating the way it is.

[vonBeavis]

06:30 AM on 12/25/2011

Best wishes and happy holidays to the Obama family.

Soft, poor quality coal in the stockings of those nuggets who feel they must post negative, untrue rw talking points on Christmas day. May you experience karma.

[HarryP]

07:33 PM on 12/25/2011

Happy Days conBeavis
f n f

[rbrain]

07:16 PM on 12/24/2011

Merry Christmas to the President and first family. They deserve it. I hope all the politicians who are flying home for the holidays reflect on peace and goodwill.

[nfischet]

06:36 PM on 12/24/2011

It only took TWO seperate airplanes,and two seperate security details,and two seperate entourages....and yet,bho claims to want to "help" the taxpayers.....yep,double the cost to the taxpayers....

[jimme]

12:45 AM on 12/25/2011

It's not up to him to decide on how to handle security. That would be Secret Service.

Try again.

[nfischet]

09:50 AM on 12/25/2011

jime....true,but can you count to TWO??? That was TWICE as much for ONE trip

[thepusher]

01:35 AM on 12/25/2011

He stayed behind to help the middle-class. Him and his family are now taking a much deserved break which happens to coincide with a federal holiday unlike the previous president who declared summer of 2001 a federal holiday.

[nfischet]

09:49 AM on 12/25/2011

yep,he helped double the cost to the taxpayers,,,and how does that help the middle class? You know,the ones who pay taxes....not the 47% recipient class...those who recieve way more than their fair share.

[BurritoT]

09:22 AM on 12/26/2011

haha sure dude, he really has gotten down in the trenches for the little man.

[goodbyeGOP]

06:35 PM on 12/24/2011

Bush took 180 vacation days at this time and Obama has only taken 62 you tell me who spent more of the tax payers money on vacations BUSH so stop being hypocrites

[t iessa]

10:47 AM on 12/26/2011

And Carter and Clinton took fewer than Obama. What's your point? As long as he's not as bad as Bush, he's great? Really? Geez.

[mcnallysan5]

04:07 PM on 12/24/2011

HP probably threw this bone to the republicans so they can have something to chew on over the holidays.

[hornet32j]

03:25 PM on 12/24/2011

Barrack nothing has been settled ' the people are getting awful tired you and congress this last band-aid might be the one that broke the camel's back .

[HarryP]

07:37 PM on 12/25/2011

you know that the CONgress has an apporval rating of 9% (that is the gopteas) and that
our President has an approval rating of over 50% ?

[hornet32j]

09:59 PM on 12/25/2011

Now if we could just get them working for the American people , did you know that a hundred and five Countries are on the American dole , could use the money at home .

[t iessa]

10:49 AM on 12/26/2011

Where did you get your numbers? RCP has his approval rate at 46.7% NO poll has him at 50% much less over 50%.

[rhuffie]

03:18 PM on 12/24/2011

So many right wing cry babies...
O my goodness, 4 million dollars of tax payer money spent for the president and his family to go home for Christmas? How dare he?
Instead if your incessant whining, try looking up to see:
1. Is this the actual cost of this trip? there is lots of fake info out there, son. For instance, Fox "news" has a tendincy to have one their blowhard pundits say " It probably cost the taxpayers 4 million dollars for this!" and then in their so-called "news' segments they say (in unspoken reference to the blowhard) "it has been reported that the trip cost over 4 million dollars". A great way to interject any nonsense they wish...which they do with great predictability.
2. How much does it cost for the first family, any first family, to travel? It must be very costly. And since it is so costly, do you favor the notion that tax payers should not have to shoulder the cost of president's vacations?
3. Is any part of this cost discretionary...that is, is this the actual cost of the trip or is the president actually adding on more costs for some luxuries?

[hornet32j]

03:30 PM on 12/24/2011

Your President needs to find out where the white house or camp david is , a vacation is needed to wind down from stress overwork what your president done to stress anything ? and if that idiot and the frist lady could travel together save a lot of taxpayer money .

[rhuffie]

03:41 PM on 12/24/2011

Type much?..unintelligible comment:
"a vacation is needed to wind down from stress overwork what your president done to stress anything ?
Except for the fact that you are whining like a school girl.
If the president is an idiot, what does that make you?

[Pamela Lake]

05:15 PM on 12/24/2011

This current sitting President has had complete opposition from a congress that refuses to work with him on anything, to the detriment of this country.

[Stavo]

02:45 PM on 12/24/2011

Well.....if President Obama decides not to go.....and wants to unload his tickets....by golly I'll sure take him up on that deal. A couple of weeks in Hawaii would be just the ticket. White sands, beach bunnies, fishing, surfing.....warm sun. Yes....I sure could use that type of vacation right about now. lol

[ezhai]

01:24 PM on 12/24/2011

STAY AWAY!!!

[NyJimbo]

02:10 PM on 12/24/2011

Of course tomorrow republicans will bash him for going away......

[vtmilitia]

03:15 PM on 12/24/2011

But the country's economy will have a chance to stabilise before his return.

[robjh1]

01:10 PM on 12/24/2011

Finally.

[VegasBabe]

11:47 AM on 12/24/2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year first family! Yeah! :)

[Don Stalvino]

11:46 AM on 12/24/2011

A 4 million dollar vacation how is that even possible? He should spend Christmas at the White House with his 37 "holiday" trees. What a waste!

[bluestems]

02:10 PM on 12/24/2011

"how is that even possible?"

good question! maybe consider the source?

[fgrammit]

11:33 AM on 12/24/2011

lets count 242 gop in house
1 speaker @ $223,500.00
1 maj whip @ $193,400.00
240 reps @$174,000.00

47 GOP in senate
i minority leader @ 193,400.00
46 sen. @ 174,000.00
total money paid for extreme blockage of the entire countrys economy and welfare =$50,374,300.00 BUT potus cannot take a christmas vacation(while they are on another vacation) how does that work. They spend maybe 3 days a week doing the business of the people and the other 4 days dialing for dollars to get re-elected. but you think potus (who gets all the blame for anything bad) should spend every waking moment in the oval office. NOT!

[ezhai]

01:26 PM on 12/24/2011

In fact, Obama should not spend anytime at all in Washington and the voters will see to it!

[fgrammit]

01:41 PM on 12/24/2011

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha you wish

[Stavo]

02:46 PM on 12/24/2011

Bet he is going to be your President for the next 4 years. Here's to hoping he will lock you republicans in your private prisons for profit during that time. Yes....a real dream come true.