President Obama Calls for Higher Taxes at White House Event; Takes No Questions from the Press; Says He Will Meet with Leaders of Congress Next Week – Complete Video 11/9/12

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Here is video of President Barack Obama’s statement at the White House today, where he called on Congress to support his desire to raise taxes. At the same time, the man who has already been President nearly four years says his number one priority is “jobs and growth.”

Obama took no questions at the White House event, and NBC News’ Chuck Todd said Obama had invited guests to the event in the East Room and had placed them strategically between himself and the press so that the media would even have a hard time shouting questions at him. Todd noted that Obama’s unwillingness to talk to the media did not follow the precedent of previous Presidents following re-election, and pointed out that House Speaker John Boehner did hold a Press Conference today.

Obama said he would meet with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid next week to talk about how to avoid the looming “Fiscal Cliff.”

Untouchable “@buzzfeedandrew: Obama breaks tradition of post-reelection press conference. First since Nixon. buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynsk…”

— Amy(@CAAmyO) November 9, 2012

So when will President Obama hold a formal press conference?

— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) November 9, 2012

Bush gave a press conference after reelection, Clinton did too, and Reagan. Obama gave a statement with no questions.

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) November 9, 2012