Obama Signs Payroll Tax Extension Before Flying to Hawaii
President Obama spoke, after nearly an hour's delay, about the payroll tax deal before heading to Hawaii for his Christmas vacation.
.Update 1:30 p.m. After an hour delay from the appointed speaking time, Obama did a wrap up on yesterday's payroll tax break extension news in some short remarks to the press that basically rehashed his statement from yesterday. He signed the bill into law this afternoon, and in his remarks, he made sure not to sound too complacent with his political win, noting that he still wants Congress to extend the tax break and unemployment insurance through 2012 "without drama, without delay" when they return from the break. "I do want to be clear though. We have a lot more work to do," he said. "This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class." Now it's off to Hawaii to join his family for vacation. He bid the press corp "aloha," and left without taking questions.
Update 1:15 p.m. EDT: Still waiting, folks. We're guessing he didn't make that 1:05 p.m. trip to Hawaii. Or maybe he did ...
Update 12:29 p.m. EDT: We're still waiting for the President's remarks to start.
President Obama will speak at approximately 12:15 p.m to address the pay roll tax cut extension, and less than an hour later he's scheduled to board a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii, for his holiday vacation. On Thursday Obama said he would sign the payroll tax cut extension as soon as it found its way to his desk. House Republicans finally passed the payroll tax cut extension this morning, and this afternoon's speech is probably going to be the formalities and confirmation that he's signed the extension into effect. But the bigger news in the Twitter-verse seems to be that the speech isn't going to be too long or drawn out as the President has a 1:05 p.m. flight to Hawaii to catch and a vacation to start.