Obama starts Hawaiian vacation with family leaving Washington on ice

KAILUA: (Hawaii): Taking what
promised to be a very brief
Christmas break from the ongoing
struggle to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of
tax hikes and spending cuts,
President Barack Obama relaxed
with his family on Saturday at a
beach retreat in Hawaii.
Congress was to return to
Washington next Thursday and
Obama has pledged to work with
lawmakers to strike a deal to avoid
the economic shock from tax and
spending measures set to take effect
on January 1 if a deal can't be
reached, which many economists say
could push the US economy back into
recession.
The president is expected to indulge
in some of his favorite pastimes on
the island where he was born and
raised: golf, an expedition for the
local treat "shave ice," and an
evening out with family and friends.
He hit the links at the nearby Marine
Corps base under sunny skies on
Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, he is expected to attend
funeral services for Senator Daniel
Inouye, the long-serving Democrat
from Hawaii who died on Monday,
but the president has no other public
events on his schedule.
On Saturday, Democratic Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid said he
had urged Hawaii Governor Neil
Abercrombie, a Democrat, to name
Inouye's successor "with due haste."
"It is critically important to ensure
that the people of Hawaii are fully
represented in the pivotal decisions
the Senate will be making before the
end of the year," Reid, of Nevada,
said in a statement.
Obama's idyll was not expected to
last more than four days, and he will
likely retrace the more than 4,800-
mile (7,725 km) trip from the Aloha
State to Washington after Christmas
in a bid to cut a deal with
Republicans, who failed on Thursday
to agree on competing tax and
spending bills of their own.
Before leaving Washington on Friday
evening, Obama urged Congress to
come up with a stopgap measure to
spare the US economy the jolt of $600
billion in tax increases and spending
cuts economists say would likely
derail the economy.
The president asked lawmakers for a
stripped-down deal to continue lower
tax rates on middle income earners
and extend unemployment insurance
benefits to avoid some of the worst
effects of the "fiscal cliff" in the new
year.
Obama's family holiday, in a quiet
beach front community on the other
side of the island from bustling
Honolulu, should also provide some
respite from the somber focus on the
Newtown, Connecticut, school
massacre and the consequent bitter
debate over measures to change
America's gun culture and prevent
violence.
The president's weekly radio and
Internet addresses, which in recent
weeks have centered on his
argument for extending tax cuts for
all but the wealthiest Americans, on
Saturday offered holiday greetings to
US military forces.