devastating storm. what happened? i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. all right. look at this. this was then pf president obama us bus last august making its way through the midwest. look a this. this is now president obama s bus with a seemingly new accessory front and center. we re talking about a presidential seal. it s a bold reminder as he kicks his campaign into full gear in ohio, a major battleground state to be sure, that he has rivalled mitt romney. they are both trying to win in order to become president. at least in his part to remain president of the united states, romney s part to become president of the united states. the romney campaign though is trying to steal a bit of the thunder in the area. the president certainly didn t shy away from mixing policy with politics taking key action just hours before his speech to help bolster the economy. our white house correspondent, dan lothian, is traveling with the president in ohio right now. dan is joi
north korea. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. the showdown over the payroll tax cut lasted for weeks, but the stalemate ended in a matter of minutes today after house republican leaders bowed to overwhelming pressure and gave into the democrats. today, the house approved the bill that got almost 90% of support in the senate. president obama signed it into law and the threat of a new year s day tax hire for 160 working americans is over. let s go straight to dana bash who s watching this on capitol hill. must be pretty empty. it was exciting for a few minutes today. a few minutes, underline the word minutes. look, there is a lot of relief that this battle that consumed congress in these final days is over. especially for house republicans. the house will be in order. it was john boehner s decision to back down and he backed it up by presiding over passage of a short-term tax cut that many call a gimmick. hr 3765. a bill to extend the payroll tax holida