Late into the evening on this first day of January -- decision day for the economic direction of the nation -- the House passed legislation to avert the so called "Fiscal Cliff" before midnight struck.
Pleased with the outcome, President Obama said he kept his promise not to raise taxes on the middle class and avoid an economic recession, speaking at 11:20 EST at a press conference following the deal.
The Fiscal Cliff deal was passed with a 257 'yes' to 167 'no' vote.
But preventing tax hikes is just one part of the deal. The other is budget cuts. Talks about this aspect of the deal have been postponed for he next two months.
"We are continuing to chip away at deficit reduction step-by-step," said Obama, noting the progress made tonight is just a partial solution.
The president said he is very open to compromise and that he agreed with both Democrats and Republicans that Medicare is the biggest contributor to debt, adding, "but we can not cut our way to prosperity. The deficit needs to be reduced in a balanced way. . .everyone must do their part."
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