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While all eyes remain fixated on the nation’s budget woes and the so-called fiscal cliff negotiations, President Barack Obama told NBC News on Sunday that he has more ambitious goals in mind for his second term.
In an exclusive interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama said that there are several major issues sitting atop his agenda for the next four years, including immigration, economic growth, energy issues, the environment, and gun violence.
The president discussed efforts to address gun violence and immigration with particular urgency on Sunday.
"I've said that fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority," he said. "I will introduce legislation in the first year to get that done. I think we have talked about it long enough."
And in the aftermath of December's deadly elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the president vowed to put his "full weight" behind the gun violence recommendations he asked Vice President Joe Biden to generate.
Recommended: Obama on Benghazi: 'This was a huge problem'
Obama said that battle would also be fought during the first year of his second term, the success of which the president suggested would hinge upon just how searing the deadly shooting was to the public psyche.
President Barack Obama says "I think anybody who was up in Newtown, who talked to the parents, who talked to the families understands that something fundamental in America has to change."
"Will there be resistance? Absolutely there will be resistance," the president told NBC's David Gregory. "And the question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away. It certainly won't feel like that to me. This is something that was the worst day of my presidency. And it's not something that I want to see repeated."
Obama also said he was "skeptical" of the National Rifle Association's proposal to put an armed guard in every school, though he said he would not "prejudge" any proposals to address mass shooting events.
Those items alone might constitute an ambitious agenda for a second-term president, who, history suggests, has a limited timetable to accomplish top goals before the waning powers of a lame-duck presidency set in.
Key staffers huddle behind closed doors against the backdrop of a snowy capital as they attempt to hammer a last-minute deal to avoid going over the so-called fiscal cliff. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
But Obama added to that list two other priorities which eluded him in his first term. He said energy and the environment would be a "third thing" on his second term agenda, for instance.
"We've got a huge opportunity around energy. We are producing more energy and America can become an energy exporter," the president said. "How do we do that in a way that also deals with some of the environmental challenges that we have at the same time?"
The president acknowledged, though, that his top priority is preventing automatic tax hikes on all Americans come Jan. 1 as part of the fiscal cliff. That battle has been playing out vividly in Washington during the final days of 2012, and directly involves the fourth priority as described by Obama: stabilizing and growing the economy.
"Part of that is deficit reduction. Part of it is also making sure that we're investing, for example, in rebuilding our infrastructure, which is broken," he said, arguing that the combination of spending cuts elsewhere and new investments would help stabilize the economy.
But Obama's ability to accomplish those four priorities — and then some — could be sapped by the protracted fiscal cliff battle, or any of the other legislative battles he might encounter along the way.
Related: Obama: GOP's insistence on halting tax hikes for the wealthy is stopping fiscal cliff deal
Immigration reform, for instance, had failed to advance over the objections of Republicans during Obama's first term. He said during the campaign that he would seek comprehensive reforms again in his second term, predicting that, if Republicans fared poorly enough with Hispanic voters during the election, they might relent in their opposition to an immigration bill.
Pete Souza / White House Photo
President Barack Obama is interviewed by David Gregory of NBC's "Meet The Press" in the Blue Room of the White House, Dec. 29, 2012. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
In fact, the GOP did not fare particularly well with the increasingly important bloc of Latino voters, but the question of whether they would relent on immigration reform was an untested proposition.
Other tough battles that could inhibit these goals include pending Cabinet confirmations. While Obama has nominated a new secretary of state — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry — he denied having settled upon former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as his new secretary of defense. But Obama also shielded Hagel, reportedly a front-runner for the defense gig, by saying he sees nothing in the former senator's record as disqualifying.
And there were other second term commitments Obama resisted; he would not commit to significant reforms to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security during the first year of his second term, for instance.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, President Barack Obama tells David Gregory he's optimistic the fiscal cliff can be averted, lays out the goals for his second term, and also discusses the Benghazi attack and how it was handled by the administration and those on Capitol Hill.
At several points in his "Meet the Press" appearance, Obama referenced President Abraham Lincoln and the recently-released film about Lincoln's pursuit of the 13th Amendment, and the trade-offs needed to achieve that goal. Obama invoked that example on both gun control and the fiscal cliff, saying that while he was not comparing himself to Lincoln, that movie offered a lesson in the occasional ugliness of political leadership.
"A, I never compare myself to Lincoln and, B, obviously the magnitude of the issues are quite different from the Civil War and slavery," he said. "The point, though, is democracy's always been messy. And we're a big, diverse country that is constantly sort of arguing about all kinds of stuff. But eventually we do the right thing."
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Obama will get nothing done in his 2nd Term...
The House will stay GOP after 2014 and after the anti gun push, the Democrats will loose the Senate...
Add to that the economy will not get better in the next 4 years, all the while adding more and more debt.
Pretty much the way I see it.
But Feinstein,Schumer,lieberman and their fellow travelers will get re-elected....like Pied Pipers of old,they will lead the Democrats over the cliff with the gun control fight.
Think 1994.
Mr. Obama has no clue on how to keep us out of debt. He only knows spending. He's "always" used other people's money. Immigration control will take BIG GONADS and he doesn't have them and really wants the Republicans to do something so he and the Democrats can gain the latino empathy and pass the blame. Mr. Obama is one of the most intelligent idiots to be in the White House. I apologize to the rest of the World for our President. I sure miss Bill Clinton, he was Presidential.
"Immigration and gun violence top president's post-fiscal cliff agenda"...............How about a budget?
One shot suicide pistols can be distributed to millions of the terminally ill. Its barrel is curved upward and when inserted into the mouth and fired the bullet will enter the brain. No user has survived after pulling the trigger, but Cancer surgeons will complain after losing most of their customers.
Where the hell do you idoits come from??
This Cliff stuff is a prelude to a whole year of stuff on the Debt Ceiling and all we will hear is about the other guy. This, until congress is owned by one Party. Obama blew his chance when he did Health Care and not the Economy. No health care and the Republicans would have increased taxes, then do the Health Care covering the Medical conditions. It's all a yawn!
The news media is hiding the fact that Sambo wants the power to raise the
debt ceiling to be his alone.
Your house gets flooded with raw sewage you......
A. Fix the problem?
B. Just Raise the ceiling?
So that moron wants to make illegal immigrants legal. like we don't have enough troubles.
ND 33 Alabama 12. Congress Jan 1 another loss. Neither side knows how to win! Maybe watch the team work involved with the teams and learn!
To Northquist and the rest of the Republicans holding 98 percent of Americans hostage in order to get your agendas met: You all remind me of the people I read about today. Please run to the Bible and read the book of Matthew chpapter 23.
The GOP will raise taxes on the Rich... But Obama must agree to cut Food Stamps, Welfare and Obama Phones...
Please leave the Bible Stuff on the shelf. Hasn't helped anything other then distract from an intelligent discussion. The Mormons would have you read something else and the Buddha people would. This one belongs to the people!
So Glad that President George H W Bush is doing better. God Bless him!
I'm glad Barry is president and not me... lol we have the same birthday I think? but different mothers and fathers
What? another one!
No Gun Control for you Obozo
"I've said that fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority," he said. "I will introduce legislation in the first year to get that done. I think we have talked about it long enough."
So, Secure the Southern border first, then we can talk about the rest Barry. just sayin...
How come everybody who wants too & can, are leaving California?
Does anyone know where I can get a good spliff in Denver? lol
Bless the Parents of the kids killed and may god Bless them. You people with the 100 shot clips please turn them in and feel better!
We all knew this was coming. He has been trying to get free open citizenship for any illegal from the very first day he took office. Especially the Mexicans. He has been pushing them up our butts and down our throats since day one of his first term. So no big surprise this this social agenda.
As for gun control we have all the control we need in this country. Only the gangs and the military will have weapons when he is finished with his socialized agenda. Because that is exactly how the socialist states in Europe operate.
What we need is changes on how we think about mental people and how we treat them. What we need is for the laws to change regarding how we deal with gangs and give the police new laws to deal with them. The liberals have tied the hands of law for the last 50 years and this is what has come of it.
The mental heath professionals have tied the hands of parents and families to deal with the mentally ill in their families. Rights, it's always rights. What about the rights of the people who have to live with the dead because the families can't have the mentally ill housed. The Out patient and pills experiment of the last 50 years is not working.
That is what has to change. The thinking in this country has been so wrong for so long and NOBODY wants to admit it.
another one what? crickets///////
Have you ever hunted/killed feral pigs from a helicopter with a .50 cal /Semi automatic ?
WTF, Obama is granting a interview to a known gun felon who blatantly broke gun laws on national TV. Just goes to show Obama has no interest in enforcing existing gun laws.
Obama may go down in history as one of our worst Presidents. He does not get it and keeps making mistakes. Our economy is stuggling and the future growth of our economy looks bleak. Therefore the economy, deficit/debt, employment, strengthening our infrastructure, R&D, strengthening and supporting our businesses, smart/efficient/effective regulations that minimize the impact on businesses, etc. needs to be the President's and our Government's primary focus at this time in our history. We didn't need the disruption of Obamacare and we don't need the disruption of gun control and possibly immigration reform. Immigration reform if it was rapped aroung strengthening the economy and deficits through such things as guest worker program, letting in more highly skilled immigrants, controlling our borders and employment of illegal immigrants that would reduce the number of illegal immigrants and any strain on resources, may be okay. However if the changes on immigration reform are very disruptive to our economy and deficits, they should not be done at this time. We need a government focused like a lazer beam on economic related problems. Obama does not seem to show the leadership or even have the right ideaology to prioritize this at this time. If he hurts the economy or does not help to fix the economy, this will work against his ideaology as social safety nets could eventually be jeapordised.
George,
This OJT stuff ins't easy.......
He has to divert attention from his first set of failed lies to the latest set of lies
and find someone to blame.........
There are 11 armed full-time guards in the elite school Obama sends his daughters to. There are 5 armed guards in the school Rahm Emaunuel sends his kids to.
I guess this just won't work for the common folk like us.
Jackass.
Obama Lies,
This is not a fair comparison and your comments are irrelevant. The rich and elite who to a great extent run the country, have lots of benefits the common folk don't have. One of them would be greater security at the schools they send their kids to. If you were President or Mayor of Chicago you would want your kids going to one of these schools also because the kids of the President or Mayor of Chicago are always more vulnerable than an ordinary kid. Whether we should have armed people in the schools is a completely different debate and discussion. It has nothing to do with the President and Mayor of Chicago's kids schools. This is a whole different circumstances and is irrelevant to the discussion.
Obama Lies' comment is very relevant. It's tied into the topic of gun control. Why should a person's child be less protected than a politicians ? Your logic, George Johnson, is to let something bad happen to a child because his/her parents aren't community leaders. The article's title is "Immigration and gun violence top president's post-fiscal cliff agenda". Why does Obama Lies' comment belong to a different debate and discussion ?
George, You mean Obama and Emanuel's kids are worth more than yours or mine?
Who's the elitist now?
Obama will get some agreement with the GOP on immigration reform, but he won't get any new gun laws. The Democrats are going to loose some seats in the Senate and the GOP will hold on to the House in 2014.
Obama is already a lame duck, he has already poisoned the well.
The GOP will raise taxes on the rich and it will have no effect and the economy will stay in the tank for the next 4 years.
The best part is when Obamacare kicks in and the taxpaying middle class will now have high insurance cost while waiting 2X-3X longer because of Obama like Medicaid recipients.
Do we know if it was a prop or not? has he been convicted for any law breaking yet? besides He "Gregor the great" and "Barry the President" are good buddies CM
So do you suppose That NBC was inept enough to Provide DC law enforcement with the 30 rnd clip? you know the evidence necessary to convict Gregor the great of a felony
I hope not, you would think they would have used a prop... Just sayin?
Good thing we have checks, balances and states as well as a little thing called the U.S. Constitutions to clean up "messy" democracy.
tonybeeerm
I agree NDD. I have no use for Gregory. If NBC ever gets rid of him, I'm sure his first interview will be with FOX.
#6.2 - Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:59 AM CST
newdayDAWNING...RETURNED
It would be a better fit for him, tony.
#6.3 - Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:06 AM CST
josepha-3574214
I agree, and he appears to be a hypocrite. How can he argue/discuss the issues of the times when he sends his children to a private school with armed guards? He appears happy to expose the hypocrisies of others, but not address those of his own/his wife's. Interesting.
#6.4 - Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:07 AM CST
Beverly in Chicago
tonybeeerm
tony,
Since Gregory repeats FOX NOISE talking points in a skewed fashion, he'd be a lot more liberated over @ FAUX NEWS.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and newday!
I can't believe you people would throw one of your favs under the buss like that, do you even realize Gregor the great is one of Prez Barry's bff's ...........lol
Is that why Gregory hasn't been arrested for having a high capacity magazine in the District of Columbia, because he got a Presidential pardon ?
On the liberal propaganda show "Meet the Press" Obama said he's would be skeptical about security to be placed at our schools ?? Why would Obama be "skeptical" about putting qualified armed security in our schools ?? Armed security is a proven method of deterrent and prevention,and can be seen all through our society,including armed security protecting Obama,and just about every politician in Washington..If it didn't work they wouldn't use them Period. Gun bans have been proven not to work...This is a fact and not theory ..Armed security works and this is also a fact and not a theory...So without doubt armed security should be placed at our schools.and for the liberals to be playing politics and focusing just on liberal ideology with these worthless bans is putting the innocent kids in danger from these evil wacko's.
Wow, it must be new year. The Obama channel played on all three controlled networks. Kinda reminded me of TASS, the Russian News Agency of years ago. Just a Gubmint propaganda machine. Divide the population, much easier to control. And us silly Americans fall right in line. Read today's posts. I'm sure all the King's men are laughing again. Just sayin...................