Obamas spending low-key Christmas Eve in Hawaii
HONOLULU, HI - DECEMBER 23: (AFP OUT) US President Barack Obama greets well-wishers after arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam December 23, 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii. President Obama joined First Lady Michele Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia in Hawaii for the winter holidays. (Photo by Kent Nishimura-Pool/Getty Images) / Kent Nishimura-Pool/Getty Images
HONOLULU - President Barack Obama and his family are easing into vacation mode, spending a low-key Christmas Eve out of the spotlight.
The president spent his first morning in Hawaii at a multimillion-dollar vacation home his family rents in the Kailua Beach area, near Honolulu. He skipped his standard early morning gym workout, and headed to the golf course later Saturday.
First lady Michelle Obama, meanwhile, got into the Christmas spirit by helping track Santa for NORAD. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955.
The White House said Mrs. Obama answered several calls from children around the country who wanted to know how close Santa was to their homes.
Obama arrives in Hawaii for delayed holiday
The Obamas were to spend Christmas Eve at home with a close circle of family and friends that typically joins the president for his annual Hawaiian vacation. They include Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in the state with her family, and several friends the president has known since high school.
The president's annual December trip to the state where he was born and mostly raised almost didn't happen. He had planned to arrive in Hawaii on Dec. 17, but delayed his departure while Congress worked its way through a stalemate over extending payroll tax cuts.
A deal was finalized Friday morning. Hours later, the president boarded Air Force One for Hawaii to meet his wife and daughters, who traveled ahead of him.
Obama's first order of business when he arrived was taking his wife out to dinner. The couple joined a few friends at Morimoto restaurant, one of their favorite dining spots on the island of Oahu.
The president has no public events planned in Hawaii. A small group of advisers accompanied him to brief him on domestic and international developments.
The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year's Day.
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Some have asked for a source regarding this so called "tax cuts" of 2 months being paid for by a permanent tax increase on home mortgages:
Associated Press: 12/17/11
WASHINGTON (AP): Who is paying for the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut working its way through Congress? The cost is being dropped in the laps of most people who buy homes or refinance beginning next year.
The typical person who buys a $200,000 home or refinances that amount starting on Jan. 1 would have to pay roughly $17 more a month for their mortgage, thanks to a fee increase included in the payroll tax cut bill that the Senate passed Saturday. The White House said the fee increases would be phased in gradually.
The legislation provides a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits that would otherwise expire on Jan. 1. It would also delay for two months a cut in Medicare reimbursements for doctors that is scheduled to take effect on New Year's Day. The House is expected to act on the bill early next week. Two more months of the Social Security tax cut amounts to a savings of about $165 for a worker making $50,000 a year.
To cover its $33 billion price tag, the measure increases the fee that the government-backed mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, charge to insure home mortgages. That fee, which Senate aides said currently averages around 0.3 percentage point, would rise by 0.1 percentage point under the bill. The increase will also apply to people whose mortgages are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, which typically serves lower-income and first-time buyers.
The higher fee would not apply to people who currently have mortgages unless they refinance beginning next year.
God I hate the evil rich.
Unemployment by year (source US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Bush Years
2002 - 5.8%
2003 - 6.0% (The year Bush's across-the-board tax cuts for all income levels took place)
2004 - 5.5%
2005 - 5.1 %
2006 - 4.6%
2007 - 4.6 % (Democrats take over Congress)
2008 - 5.8 %
Obama Years
2009 - 9.3% (Obama takes over on Jan 20, 2009 with a 7.8% rate)
2010 - 9.6%
2011 - 9.0% (Average)
Fox = hate an lies.