Obama Praises Cliff Deal, Resumes Hawaii Vacation

President Obama flew off to resume his family vacation in Hawaii minutes after delivering remarks praising the House and Senate for passing the fiscal cliff deal, the New York Times reports. In his remarks, Obama praised the work of congressional leaders and his "extraordinary Vice President Joe Biden" and called the law "just one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy and broaden opportunity for everybody." The cliff bill still needs to be enrolled by congressional officials and will be sent to Hawaii for Obama's signature.

"The one thing that I think hopefully the new year will focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinksmanship, and not scare the heck out of folks quite as much," he said, but warned the GOP against using upcoming debt ceiling negotiations to push through spending cuts. "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. (More President Obama stories.)