President Obama holds year-end news conference

[ProSense]

President Obama holds year-end news conference

by Jed Lewison

Closing out the most accomplished Congress in decades, President Obama is holding a year-end news conference at the White House before heading to Hawaii for a brief vacation with his family. You can watch the press conference here and add your thoughts in the comments as we blog it live.

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Update: Mark Knoll of CBS asks President Obama whether he understands the outrage that Democrats felt about the tax cuts for the wealthy, and whether his rhetoric criticizing the tax cuts was partially responsible for the outrage. President Obama said he did understand not just why Democrats oppose those cuts, but also why some Republicans oppose them, saying that when the next Congress convenes, and the budget takes center stage, we're not only going to need to cut programs that don't work, but also pay for the things that are important -- and that's going to require revenue. While he did talk about the possibility of some budget cuts, the bulk of his answer focused on investments America needs to make, and the fact that in two years we're going to have to choose between making those investments and giving those tax cuts to wealthy people. President Obama pointed out that middle-class incomes haven't increased in a decade, while people in the top 1%, top 0.1%, and top 0.01% have a larger share of income wealth since the 1920s. Obama said America's great strength is a "thriving middle-class" and that rebuilding that thriving middle-class should be our goal as a nation. He was careful to say he wasn't against people like Steve Jobs becoming wealthy when they build great products, but he said the backbone of the country must be strong, and that it needed to be a part of the conversation over the next two years.

Update: The next question was on the failure to pass immigration reform. President Obama said his biggest disappointment was the failure of the DREAM Act vote which was blocked be Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the Senate. He said kids who grew up in America, kids who are willing to fight for America, who just want an education, should not be at risk for deportation. "It's heartbreaking. That can't be who we are...They didn't break a law. They were kids." President Obama said his administration was taking border security and cracking down on illegal employers seriously, but that we need to reform immigration -- at minimum passing the DREAM Act. "I'm going to go back at it," he said. "We've got to change the politics" in which Republicans who know better still block the DREAM Act for fear of electoral blowback. "One thing I hope people have seen during this lame duck, I am persistent. If I believe strongly in something I stay on it. And I believe strongly in this. ... I think about those kids and I want to do right by them."

Update: Fox asks about Guantanamo. Obama says the reason why he wants to close Guantanamo is that it's become the top recruitment tool for Al Qaeda -- that its very existence poses a threat to America because it fuels terrorist propaganda. Fox wanted him to comment on the ongoing Guantanamo review process, but Obama declined to comment because he hasn't received the review.

President Obama closed the press conference wishing the press corps a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy New Year.

[politicasista]

1. Kick!

Go Obama! :kick: :patriot: