WASHINGTON — He may not get much relief from Republicans about the U.S. budget, but President Barack Obama, who turns 50 today and is now eligible to join AARP, could start getting relief in his personal budget from movie theaters, hotels and restaurants.
But that’s where the similarities to most people turning the big 5-0 end.
Obama celebrated his milestone birthday last night with a star-studded fundraiser in Chicago, featuring a performance by Herbie Hancock and OK Go. Jennifer Hudson even sang”Happy Birthday” to the president.
Around 1,000 tickets, at a minimum $50 donor fee, were made available to members of the public for the dual fundraiser-birthday party, while 100 high dollar donors dished out up to $35,800 for a private dinner taking place after the concert.
The president delivered a speech at the event defending his record and performance, a day after he signed the controversial debt ceiling bill into law.
“When I said, ‘Change you can believe in,’ I didn’t mean, change you can believe in tomorrow, or next week,” he said. “We’re not even halfway there yet,” Obama said. “We knew this was going to take time, because we’ve got this big, messy tough democracy.”
Obama expects to spend his birthday in Washington on Thursday, but the White House hasn’t said how he and his family plan to celebrate.
Obama’s one birthday wish came true days earlier.
“What I really want right now is to, to get a debt-ceiling deal for my birthday,” Obama told NPR recently. That came Tuesday after he signed a deal to avoid the first-ever default for the United States on its financial obligations.
So what does the president think about turning 50?
“I feel real good” he said. “I’ve gotten a little grayer since I took this job, but otherwise, I feel pretty good.”
Obama added that his wife, Michelle, has told him that she still thinks “I’m cute.”
“And I guess that’s, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” he said.
