WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden went on a Costco shopping spree Thursday and called for Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts as part of a deal to avoid the looming ‘‘fiscal cliff’’ that could jolt the economy back into recession.

Biden, who flashed a store membership card as he entered the city’s first Costco on its opening day, said consumer confidence is growing — as demonstrated by the huge crowd at the gleaming new store in Northeast Washington.