Obama talks Trump, Russia, Israel and democracy in his final news conference as US president

[webfact]

Obama talks Trump, Russia, Israel and democracy in his final news conference as US president

Chris Cummins

 

 

WASHINGTON: -- Barack Obama has held his final news conference as president of the United States.

 

The outgoing commander in chief was asked about his meetings with president elect Donald J Trump:“Maybe on certain issues once he comes into office and he looks at the complexities of issues like how,to provide healthcare for everybody, something he says he wants to do. He also wants to make sure that he is encouraging job creation and wage growth on this country, it may lead him to the same conclusions that I at arrived at.”

 

He spoke about the frosty US relations with Russia and explained why the US had imposed sanctions on Moscow:“The reasons sanctions have been put in place against Russia has to do with their actions in Ukraine, it is important for the United States to stand-up for the basic principal that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.”

 

He thanked the White House journalists for their scepticism and their role in maintaining a functioning democracy even if at times he disagreed with the stories or the conclusions.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2017-01-19

[ezzra]

Yeah, all the topics he couldn't or wouldn't'  make any positive deference...

goodbye Barack Hussein Obama. your legacy and presidency will soon

be forgotten, and the only way people will remember you by as being the

first black president ....

[Elfin]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

Yeah, all the topics he couldn't or wouldn't'  make any positive deference...

goodbye Barack Hussein Obama. your legacy and presidency will soon

be forgotten, and the only way people will remember you by as being the

first black president ....

You people do not like black people? What has skin colour got to do with anything?

[craigt3365]

This comment has got to confuse some Trump supporters:

 

Quote

“The reasons sanctions have been put in place against Russia has to do with their actions in Ukraine, it is important for the United States to stand-up for the basic principal that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.”

 

Good luck improving ties with Russia while trying to deal with their invasion of several smaller countries.  Never going to happen.  Here's Trump's previous tweet:

 

Quote

Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only "stupid" people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We.....

 

[reggaebkk]

"... it is important for the United States to stand-up for the basic principal that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.”

Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Panama, Korea, Libya, Somalia, Panama, Cuba, Lebanon, Grenada... and many more... Guess what evil power bullied these smaller nations? 

[geriatrickid]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Yeah, all the topics he couldn't or wouldn't'  make any positive deference...

goodbye Barack Hussein Obama. your legacy and presidency will soon

be forgotten, and the only way people will remember you by as being the

first black president ....

 

I expect that he will be remembered as the President who gave the USA hope and showed leadership as the USA was about to go under. He will be remembered for his integrity, his intellect, his compassion and empathy for Americans. He is the man who helped create 16 million jobs, who acted to  protect US lives by pulling back from needless foreign wars that cost the USA some of its best and brightest kids. He will be remembered the man who restored respect for the USA and who put an end to torture. President Obama will be  described as one the the USA's  best presidents and he will be sorely missed.

[craigt3365]

33 minutes ago, reggaebkk said:

"... it is important for the United States to stand-up for the basic principal that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.”

Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Panama, Korea, Libya, Somalia, Panama, Cuba, Lebanon, Grenada... and many more... Guess what evil power bullied these smaller nations? 

And look at Panama today.  As well as South Korea and Grenada.  Great countries who appreciate the help received, and are independent and free countries.  As for the others, many nations have invaded them over the years.  Afghanistan was the British first, then Russia, then the US with a coalition of some 40 countries.  And it's still a mess...LOL

 

P.S. Is the US still occupying territory in these countries without their approval?  No.  Well, other than Cuba, which is occupied under contract after the US helped Cuba become independent from Spain.

[crankshaft]

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

 

I expect that he will be remembered as the President who gave the USA hope and showed leadership as the USA was about to go under. He will be remembered for his integrity, his intellect, his compassion and empathy for Americans. He is the man who helped create 16 million jobs, who acted to  protect US lives by pulling back from needless foreign wars that cost the USA some of its best and brightest kids. He will be remembered the man who restored respect for the USA and who put an end to torture. President Obama will be  described as one the the USA's  best presidents and he will be sorely missed.

 

I don't know what movie you have been watching for the last eight years...but the movie I watched doesn't include any of your mentioned things. The only thing of note that he has accomplished in eight years was being the first black President....

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

Yeah, all the topics he couldn't or wouldn't'  make any positive deference...

goodbye Barack Hussein Obama. your legacy and presidency will soon

be forgotten, and the only way people will remember you by as being the

first black president ....

I have a sneaking suspicion we will be revisiting this in four years time with another president. The comments I am afraid will not be so kind. Wonder if I have 4 more years left. 

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, crankshaft said:

 

I don't know what movie you have been watching for the last eight years...but the movie I watched doesn't include any of your mentioned things. The only thing of note that he has accomplished in eight years was being the first black President....

Obama will be remembered for much more than that.  He did help us out of the worst recession in modern times. No small feat. Are you not aware of this?

[landslide]

He’ll be remembered for a few other things.

National debt increased to $20 trillion from $10.6 trillion

Debt per US Citizen increased to $61,340 from $31,000

Labor Force Participation rate decreased to 62.8% from 65.8%

Real Median Household Income dropped from $57,744 to $54,045

Tax to Benefit Ratio increased to >60% from >40%

Food Stamp Recipients increased from 32 million to 43.6 million

Persons living in poverty increased from 38 million to 45 million

Average Health Insurance Rate – Family Plan increased to $18,142 from $12,680

Numbers sourced from the US Treasury Dept., US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US dept. of Agriculture, and the US Congressional Budget Office.

[Opl]

TRUMP: Sure. I had a great meeting with President Obama. I never met him before. I really liked him a lot. The meeting was supposed to be 10 minutes, 15 minutes max, because there were a lot of people waiting outside, for both of us. And it ended up being — you were there — I guess an hour-and-a-half meeting, close. And it was a great chemistry. I think if he said overwhelmed, I don’t think he meant that in a bad way. I think he meant that it is a very overwhelming job. But I’m not overwhelmed by it. You can do things and fix it, I think he meant it that way. He said very nice things after the meeting and I said very nice things about him. I really enjoyed my meeting with him. We have — you know, we come from different sides of the equation, but it’s nevertheless something that — I didn’t know if I’d like him. I probably thought that maybe I wouldn’t, but I did, I did like him. I really enjoyed him a lot. I’ve spoken to him since the meeting.

I think he’s looking to do absolutely the right thing for the country in terms of transition and I really, I’m telling you, we had a meeting, Arthur, that went for an hour and a half that could have gone for three or four hours. It was a great — it was just a very good meeting.

He told me what he thought his, what the biggest problems of the country were, which I don’t think I should reveal, I don’t mind if he reveals them. But I was actually surprised a little bit. But he told me the problems, he told me things that he considered assets, but he did tell me what he thought were the biggest problems, in particular one problem that he thought was a big problem for the country, which I’d rather have you ask him. But I really found the meeting to be very good. And I hope we can have a good — I mean, it doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything, but I hope that we will have a great long-term relationship. I really liked him a lot and I’m a little bit surprised I’m telling you that I really liked him a lot.

[optad]

It is true Obama did not do enough foreign policy wise. Came with great hope and promise but his first term was quagmire. Recovered barely. It may be systemic politico problems in washington but 'Yes i can' echoes yes i could. 

 

I admire Barack's stature and personal integrity and the manner he addressed POTUS. Served the office well and  Obama is a credit to his own ethics. Americans wanting to unroll 'universal health' should be ashamed. However, he laid down to big forces in foreign policy areas despite being at war every day in office. Not about conducting war.

[craigt3365]

7 hours ago, landslide said:

He’ll be remembered for a few other things.

 

National debt increased to $20 trillion from $10.6 trillion

 

Debt per US Citizen increased to $61,340 from $31,000

 

Labor Force Participation rate decreased to 62.8% from 65.8%

 

Real Median Household Income dropped from $57,744 to $54,045

 

Tax to Benefit Ratio increased to >60% from >40%

 

Food Stamp Recipients increased from 32 million to 43.6 million

 

Persons living in poverty increased from 38 million to 45 million

 

Average Health Insurance Rate – Family Plan increased to $18,142 from $12,680

 

Numbers sourced from the US Treasury Dept., US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US dept. of Agriculture, and the US Congressional Budget Office.

Great point on how to twist reality.  And how many drink Trump's kool aid without checking the facts.

 

Debt did increase, but mainly due to the great recession that started BEFORE Obama took office. Worth reading if you really want to find the details behind the numbers:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/01/07/the-story-behind-obama-and-the-national-debt-in-7-charts/?utm_term=.5e09a7b16a65

 

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/02/dueling-debt-deceptions/

Quote

 

Both sides are circulating deceptions about the federal debt, judging by the many queries we get from our readers. So we’ll try to set the record straight here.

 

There’s no sugar-coating it, as some supporters of President Obama have tried to do. And the rapid rise in the debt is alarming enough without fabricating false statistics, as some Obama critics have done.

 

 

http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2016/sep/12/donald-trump/trump-solely-blames-obama-doubling-debt/
 

Quote

 

But Trump’s statement implies that Obama is solely to blame for the rise in the debt, and that misses a key part of the story.

 

While Obama proposes spending and signs it into law, all of the spending bill first must pass Congress. In other words, the rise in the debt is not a solo act by Obama.

......

Robert Bixby, executive director of the centrist Concord Coalition, told our colleagues at PolitiFact Wisconsin in July that given the fact that Obama took office as the Great Recession sapped government revenues, the debt "would have exploded certainly during (Obama’s) first term, no matter who was president."

 

 

Food stamp recipients actually went up to 47 million due to the great recession.  Obama got it down to 43 million before leaving office. 

 

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/21/donald-trump/trump-43-million-americans-food-stamps/

Quote

A report by the Food Research & Action Center, a hunger and nutrition advocacy group, applauded the 43 million figure in April as the lowest level of participants since October 2010. From April 2015 to April 2016, participation is down 1.9 million participants.

 

[craigt3365]

Here are some things he did accomplish:

http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/obama-accomplishments/

The biggest one for me is he ended the greatest economic recession since the great one.  A recession he inherited, but didn't create.  He took the office at about the worst time possible.

 

And a good check on how he held up to his promises:

http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2017/politifact/obameter/home/?utm_source=TBT_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Politifact Email Jan 19 2017
 

Quote

 

Obama had several overarching priorities: Get the economy back on track, impose new regulations on the financial sector, pass a health care plan, overhaul immigration law and address climate change.

 

As his presidency concludes, PolitiFact’s Obameter shows 48 percent of his promises rated Promise Kept, while another 28 percent were part of a Compromise. He broke 24 percent of them.

............

When Obama lost unified government in the 2010 election, bills on immigration and climate change were left undone. The Democrats never regained power, and Obama had trouble pushing through his agenda.

 

 

The last sentence is what's going to be a problem for Trump.  Gathering support for his plans.

[mike324]

9 hours ago, landslide said:

He’ll be remembered for a few other things.

National debt increased to $20 trillion from $10.6 trillion

Debt per US Citizen increased to $61,340 from $31,000

Labor Force Participation rate decreased to 62.8% from 65.8%

Real Median Household Income dropped from $57,744 to $54,045

Tax to Benefit Ratio increased to >60% from >40%

Food Stamp Recipients increased from 32 million to 43.6 million

Persons living in poverty increased from 38 million to 45 million

Average Health Insurance Rate – Family Plan increased to $18,142 from $12,680

Numbers sourced from the US Treasury Dept., US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US dept. of Agriculture, and the US Congressional Budget Office.

 

Another Trump supporter stating numbers without knowing why numbers increase .... please go do some reading and get educated on the issues before posting. This is another reason why Trump supporters are so gullible.

 

Obama could have accomplished much more if the Republicans didn't try to block his every move. They have block hundreds of bills that could have helped the economy.

Edited January 20, 2017 by mike324

[crankshaft]

On 1/19/2017 at 1:37 AM, craigt3365 said:

Obama will be remembered for much more than that.  He did help us out of the worst recession in modern times. No small feat. Are you not aware of this?

A recession brought on by the big banks......and how many of those people are in jail?

 

[mtls2005]

OMG, was he actually using complete and coherent sentences?

 

Only a few hours left for him to enact Sharia Law, take all our guns, send his enemies to FEMA camps and get those death panels up and running.

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, crankshaft said:

A recession brought on by the big banks......and how many of those people are in jail?

 

Agreed!  But that's another topic. LOL

[Opl]

 photo Pete Souza

Edited January 20, 2017 by Opl