| ABC News | - |
Citing
progress on the economy, President Barack Obama said at his annual
year-end news conference Friday that 2014 "can be a breakthrough year
for America" after a long era of recession and slow recovery.
Obama: 2014 Can Be Breakthrough Year for America
Citing progress on the economy, President Barack Obama said at his
annual year-end news conference Friday that 2014 "can be a breakthrough
year for America" after a long season of recession and slow recovery.
But when it came to the universally panned roll out of his health care
law, Obama conceded that "we screwed it up," and said, "I'm going to be
making appropriate adjustments once we get through this year." It was
unclear if he meant to signal high-level personnel changes.
The president praised Congress for a recent, relatively modest budget
compromise, saying, "It's probably too early to declare an outbreak of
bipartisanship. But it's also fair to say we're not condemned to endless
gridlock."
He also renewed his long-standing refusal to negotiate concessions with
Republicans in exchange for legislation that will be needed in late
winter or early spring to raise the nation's debt limit. "It is not
something that is a negotiating tool. It's not leverage. It's a
responsibility of Congress," he said, although he added he was willing
to discuss other issues separately.
Obama spoke from the White House briefing room podium as he concluded
his fifth year in office. He and his family were departing later in the
day for their holiday vacation in Hawaii.
Asked if this year had been the worst of his presidency so far, he laughed and said, "That's not how I think about it."
Obama's polls are at or near the low point of his tenure in the White
House. The rollout of his health care website bombed, and
high-visibility parts of his agenda have yet to make it through
Congress, including a call for gun safety legislation in the wake of the
shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school a year ago and a
sweeping overhaul of immigration laws.
"If you're measuring this by polls, my polls have gone up and down a lot
over the course of my career," he said, and then repeated that the
economy was finally showing significant progress.
The president fielded questions a few hours after the government
announced the economy grew at a solid 4.1 percent annual rate from July
through September, the fastest pace since late 2011 and significantly
higher than previously believed.
Much of the upward revision came from stronger consumer spending at a
time when unemployment is at a five-year low of 7 percent. Obama did not
mention it, but the stock market is also at or near record levels.
In his review of the year, Obama also noted that U.S. combat troops will
finally be withdrawn from Afghanistan during the coming year.
As he has before, he promised to speak in more comprehensive terms in
the near future about the future of NSA surveillance programs.
"I have confidence that the NSA is not engaged in domestic surveillance
or snooping around," he said. Yet he added, "we may have to refine this
further to give people more confidence."
A presidential advisory panel this week recommended sweeping changes to
government surveillance, including limiting the bulk collection of
Americans' phone records by stripping the NSA of its ability to store
the data in its own facilities.
Separately, a federal judge ruled earlier in the week that some of the
NSA's activities were likely unconstitutional. Judge Richard Leon called
the NSA's operation "Orwellian" in scope and said there was little
evidence that its vast trove of data from American users had prevented a
terrorist attack.
Obama was challenged on his 6-month-old statement that he and his
administration had gotten the balance about right, in terms of the NSA's
activities, between concern for terrorism and protection of civil
liberties.
He replied that the same assessments are made on a daily basis and noted
pointedly that if an attack were to occur, "the question that's coming
from you is, 'Mr. President, why did you slip?'"
Obama faced the type of challenging questions that presidents have long
encountered, and he drew laughter with his answer to one of them.
"My New Year's resolution is to be nicer to the White House press corps," he said.
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