by President Obama is now on his 11-day vacation in Hawaii. This is the third year the First Family has spent vacationing there since Obama’s election as president. The destination is a logical one for Obama, as it is his birthplace according to some opinions, as well as where he spent part of his childhood.There are no planned public appearances scheduled for the president during his holiday. But there are scheduled visits from friends and relatives who live in Hawaii and elsewhere. President Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng lives on Oahu with her family, and will be visiting Obama at his luxurious ocean-front rental home in Kailua, also on Oahu. President Obama will also visit several childhood friends during his stay in Hawaii, and friends Marty Nesbitt and Eric Whitaker from Chicago are planning to visit the Obamas during the holiday.The vacation comes on the heels of a frantic lame-duck Senate session in which the president pushed through some last-minute legislation. Obama was victorious in getting the repeal of the ban on openly gay military personnel, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law. He also got the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia approved. In addition, Obama’s flagship foreign policy passed. Obama’s vacation was delayed in order to achieve these victories, including coming to an agreement with Republicans to allow tax cuts for all income levels to proceed. Liberals in the Obama camp saw this tax cut agreement as a cave-in to conservative pressure.These successes gave Obama a welcome boost in his standing, after what many analysts called a ‘difficult year.’ This included the disappointing election results in November. More battles with congress loom on the horizon for President Obama. He is using his vacation time to recover from the difficulties of the past, and to build up his strength for future fights.
