President Obama took questions from the press today for the first time since being reelected on Nov. 6.
Three topics dominated the press conference - the looming fiscal cliff, Ambassador Susan Rice and the Generals Petraeus and Allen scandal.
On Jan. 1, if Congress fails to act, everybody's taxes will automatically go up.
"That doesn't make sense," Obama said. "Our economy can't afford that right now. Certainly no middle-class family can afford that right now. And nobody in either party says that they want it to happen. The other option is to pass a law right now that would prevent any tax hike whatsoever on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. And by the way, that means every American, including the wealthiest Americans, get a tax cut. It means that 98 percent of all Americans and 97 percent of all small businesses won't see their taxes go up a single dime."
Obama was pressed on his promise to end the Bush-era tax cuts this year - a promise he didn't keep two years ago.
"Two years ago the economy was in a different situation," the president said. "We were still very much in the early parts of recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And ultimately, we came together, not only toe extend the Bush tax cuts, but also a wide range of policies that were going to be good for the economy at the point -- unemployment insurance extensions, payroll tax extension -- all of which made a difference, and is a part of the reason why what we've seen now is 32 consecutive months of job growth, and over 5 1/2 million jobs created, and the unemployment rate coming down."
The downfall of two of the nation's top generals have captivated the nation's attention, but the president said he has no evidence that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on national security.
"General Petraeus had an extraordinary career," Obama said. "He served this country with great distinction in Iraq, in Afghanistan and as head of the CIA. We are safer because of the work that Dave Petraeus has done. And my main hope right now is -- is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career."
Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham both said today that they want to have Watergate-style hearings on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and that they will do everything to block the nomination of Susan Rice to be secretary of state. Obama told McCain and Graham to go after him.
"For them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous," Obama said. But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me. And should I choose -- if I think that she would be the best person to serve America in the capacity -- the State Department, then I will nominate her. That's not a determination that I've made yet."
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