Obama Takes Break from Looming Tax Deal to Christmas Shop
President Obama took a break Wednesday from pressuring House Republicans on payroll tax cuts to do some Christmas shopping for his daughters, Sasha and Malia.
The Los Angeles Times reported that journalists followed Obama while shopping in a Virginia Best Buy.
After placing a ten-minute call to House Speaker John Boehner over the lunch hour, Obama and his dog Bo jumped in an SUV and went shopping in Alexandria. The President is delaying his trip to Hawaii for Christmas, although his family has already left for vacation.
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Purchases included $50 iTunes gift cards and video games for his daughters like the new Wii game Just Dance 3 and Sims Pets: 3.
"The girls beat me every time on these dance games," he told reporters while shopping. "But you'll never get a picture of me [playing] because I get graded F every time."
MyFoxDC.com reports that although most holiday shoppers were upbeat as Obama wished Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all, the Commander-in-Chief encountered some friendly criticism over the Canada-to-Texas Keystone oil pipeline which he delayed.
"I just said I disagreed with him on the pipeline but I love what he's doing for the country otherwise," said John Passacantando, 50, of Alexandria after meeting Obama.
After having Del Ray pizza and buying a PetSmart chew toy for Bo, Obama and the First Pet returned to the White House and back to work. During their conference call, Boehner told Obama that he wants Democratic and Republican legislators to reopen the payroll tax cut plan and come up with a new deal which would last a full year.
But Democrats aren’t yet budging on the tax cut deal they have proposed.
The deadline to reach a deal in Congress or see taxes rise and unemployment benefits expire for millions of Americans still looms at the end of the year.
