Obama boards for Hawaii holiday with fiscal deal in the bag
(01-02 12:41)
US President Barack Obama said he had fulfilled a campaign promise to make the US tax system fairer with a deal to avert the fiscal cliff crisis that passed after a contentious debate in Congress, AFP reports.
"The one thing that I think hopefully in the New Year we'll focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little bit less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much,'' he said.
Obama also warned that he would not bargain with Republicans in Congress or offer spending cuts in return for lifting the government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling, in the coming months.
"While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed,'' he said.
"Let me repeat. We can't not pay bills that we've already incurred. If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic, far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff.''
Within minutes of speaking to reporters in the West Wing, Obama was to leave the White House for Hawaii, where he will rejoin his family on vacation.
The US fiscal cliff' crisis was finally averted late night as the House of Representatives approved a Senate bill that avoids tax increases for most Americans and delays automatic spending cuts.
The bill, which raises taxes on households earning above US$450,000 and delays spending decisions for two months, was approved by the House in a 257-167 vote and now goes to President Barack Obama's desk for signature.
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