Obama on Budget Deal: ‘No Better Christmas Present’

While signing the budget deal negotiated with former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and passed by Congress, President Barack Obama said, “There’s no better Christmas present for the American people, because this will allow the kind of stability and will allow the economy to grow at a time when you’ve got a great weakness in economies around the world.”

Obama said, “It should free us from the cycle of shutdown threats and last-minute fixes, and allows us to plan for the future. So I very much appreciate the work that the Democratic and Republican leaders did to get it to my desk. I think it is a signal to how Washington should work. My hope is now that they build on the agreement with the spending bills so that also invest in America’s priorities without getting side tracked, by a whole bunch of ideological issues that have nothing to do with our budget. So this is the first step between now and the middle of December before the Christmas break. The appropriators will have to do their job, and come up with the spending bills, but this provides them the guideposts and the baseline which to do that. I am confident that they can get it which to can do that and get it done on time. There’s no better Christmas present for the American people, because this will allow the kind of stability and will allow the economy to grow at a time when you’ve got a great weakness in economies around the world. This puts us on a responsible path and makes sure that the American people are the beneficiaries. Let’s keep up the great work, and with that, I am going to sign it. There you go.”

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