WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The bill that averted the fiscal cliff has reached the desk of  President Barack Obama (pictured) for his signature, though the battle between congressional Republicans and Democrats over tax hikes and spending cuts continues.

"Leaders from both parties came together to reach an agreement that passed with bi-partisan support that protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle class tax hike," said Obama in a press release to Cleveland Urban News.Com. "The agreement will also grow the economy and shrink our deficit in a balanced way by investing in the middle class and asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more."

Vice President Joe Biden (pictured) had helped to lobby for the Obama Administration around the fiscal cliff deal, and the vice president was successful at it, some what.

Had congress not averted the fiscal cliff it would have gone into affect this week with mass spending cuts and automatic tax increases.

The deal was brokered following political wranglings on capital hill in the past few weeks makes permanent the Bush tax cuts, which expired Monday,  for individuals earning less than $400,000 annually, and families earning less than $450,000.

The deal also extends supplemental unemployment benefits for a year, among other provisions.

It does not, however, address in depth the debt ceiling and spending cuts relative to the fiscal cliff, measures that the bi-partisan congress will no doubt fight over in upcoming weeks, and possibly even longer.

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