By Coryn Hodge
SC Staff Writer

After winning the election on Nov. 6, he hosted the first press conference in months to discuss the direction he wants to continue taking the country. Some of the many topics discussed included, the possible tax hike for middle class, climate change threats, Benghazi and the resignation of David Petraeus.

“I got elected to do work,” stated Obama. I believe the federal government can make a difference… I’m going to do anything to make that happen.”

The president stated more than enough times that he is striving to provide a certainty to the middle class families and small business owners about the tax hike.

“Right now our economy is still recovering from a very deep and damaging crisis, so our top priority has to be jobs and growth,” the President specified in one of his responses. He also mentioned a hopeful bipartisan outcome for the economic plan. “Both parties can work together in a balanced and responsible way.”

Obama received a major endorsement from Mayor Bloomberg during the election for his stance on many issues, including climate change. The Obama administration is going to continue working on ways to reduce Carbon in the atmosphere.

“We have an obligation to the future generation, to do something about it,” states the President. They are going to continue to use clean energy and invent new breakthrough technologies.

President Obama also told Republican Senators to “go after him” if they had a problem with the Benghazi attack in Libya, rather than Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations. Republicans condemned Rice for going on talk shows five days after the attack and saying that the attack was a result of an anti-Muslim film rather than a deliberate assault.

According to The White House, who have stated this frequently, Rice had been going on the best information that she had at the time.

“But 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.

Obama is taking full responsibility for the incident, stating, “If Senator [John] McCain and  [Lindsey] Graham, and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. And I’m happy to have that discussion with them,” after they indicated they were going to block Rice’s possible nomination for Secretary of State.

“We will do whatever’s necessary to block the nomination that’s within our power as far as Susan Rice is concerned,” said Senator McCain.

Obama has said that he has seen “no evidence” in the Petraeus resignation scandal about the possible endangered U.S. national security.

“I have no evidence at this point from what I’ve seen that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security.”

Last week, Petraeus resigned after his affair with Paula Broadwell, his biographer, had been publicized. Broadwell was shown to have possession of confidential material on her computer and in her home, after a FBI investigation was conducted.

“From my perspective, at least, he’s provided this country an extraordinary service. My main hope right now 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,” said Obama.

He was also quoted as, “We don’t have all the information yet” on the matter.

Overall, Obama believes that, “the federal government can make a difference” and that he’s “going to do anything to make that happen.” The president has a lot of work on his hands.

Email Coryn at:
chodge@live.esu.edu