President Barack Obama walks to the White House residence with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough,

after a day of meetings in the West Wing of the White House. January 21, 2014. (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama: This afternoon I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.

We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would, as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.

The majority of those who died today were children, uh, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old. [pause] They had their entire lives ahead of them, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. [pause] Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.

So our hearts are broken today, for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.

As a country we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newt, Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago, these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

This evening Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another.  But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now.  In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans.  And I will do everything in my power as President to help. Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need, to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.

May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

From the White House:

President Barack Obama (D): On behalf of the Obama family, Michelle, Malia, Sasha, Bo, and me I want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

For us, like so many of you, this is a day full of family and friends, food and football. It’s a day to fight the overwhelming urge to take a nap, at least until after dinner. But most of all, it’s a time to give thanks for each other, and for the incredible bounty we enjoy in this country.

That’s especially important this year. As a nation, we’ve just emerged from a campaign season that was passionate, noisy, and vital to our democracy. But it also required us to make choices, sometimes those choices led us to focus on what sets us apart instead of what ties us together, on what candidate we support instead of what country we all belong to. Thanksgiving is a chance to put it all in perspective, to remember that, despite our differences, we are, and always will be, Americans first and foremost. Today we give thanks for blessings that are all too rare in this world. The ability to spend time with the ones we love, to say what we want, to worship as we please, to know that there are brave men and women defending our freedom around the globe, and to look our children in the eye and tell them that, here in America, no dream is too big if they’re willing to work for it.

We’re also grateful that this country has always been home to Americans who see these blessings not simply as gifts to enjoy, but as opportunities to give back. Americans who believe we have a responsibility to look out for those who are less fortunate, to pull each other up and move forward together. Right now, as we prepare to gather around our dinner tables, there are families in the northeast who don’t have that luxury. Many of them have lost everything to Hurricane Sandy, homes, possessions, even loved ones. And it will be a long time before life gets back to normal for them. But in the midst of so much tragedy, there are also glimmers of hope. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen FEMA personnel, National Guard and first responders working around the clock in hard hit communities. We’ve seen hospital workers using their lunch breaks to distribute supplies. Families offering up extra bedrooms. The fire department advertising free hot showers. Buses full of volunteers coming from hundreds of miles away. Neighbors sharing whatever they have, food, water, electricity, and saying again and again how lucky they are to have a roof over their heads. It would have been easy for these folks to do nothing, to worry about themselves and leave the rest to someone else. But that’s not who we are. That’s not what we do.

As Americans, we are a bold, generous, big hearted people. When our brothers and sisters are in need, we roll up our sleeves and get to work, not for the recognition or the reward, but because it’s the right thing to do. Because there but for the grace of God go I. And because here in America, we rise or fall together, as one nation and one people. That’s something to be grateful for, today and every day.

So to all the Americans doing your part to make our world a better place, it is my great privilege to serve as your President. To all our service members, it is my honor to be your Commander in Chief. And from our family to yours, happy Thanksgiving everybody.

President Barack Obama jokingly mimics U.S. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney’s “not impressed” look while greeting

members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in the Oval Office, Nov. 15, 2012. Steve Penny,

USA Gymnastics President, and Savannah Vinsant laugh at left. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

John McCain (r) or Mitt Romney (r)? I don’t think so.

“…I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced. I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, aren’t asked to pay a dime more in taxes. [applause] I’m not going to do that…”

President Obama on growing the economy and reducing the deficit, November 9, 2012:

President Obama (D): Thank you, everybody. Thank you. [applause, cheers]  Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. [applause] Thank you very much, everybody.  Everybody, please have a seat. [applause] Thank you.

Well, good afternoon, everybody. [voices: “Good afternoon.”][laughter] Now that, uh, those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep [laughter], uh, it’s time to get back to work. And there is plenty of work to do.

As I said on Tuesday night, the American people voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in that spirit, I’ve invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week so we can start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve together. And I also intend to bring in business and labor and civic leaders from all across the country here to Washington, uh, to get their ideas and input as well.    

You know, at a time when our economy is still recovering from the great recession our top priority has to be jobs and growth. That’s the focus [applause] of the plan I talked about during the campaign. It’s a plan to reward small businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here not overseas. It’s a plan to give people the chance to get the education and training that businesses are looking for right now. It’s a plan to make sure this country is a global leader in research and technology and clean energy, which will attract new companies and high wage jobs to America. It’s a plan to put folks back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding our roads and our bridges, and other infrastructure. And it’s a plan to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way.

Our work is made that much more urgent because at the end of this year we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major decisions about how to pay our deficit down, decisions that will have a huge impact on the economy and the middle class, both now and in the future. Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars worth of spending that we just couldn’t afford. I intend to work with both parties to do more, and that includes making reforms that will bring down the cost of health care so we can strengthen programs like Medicaid and Medicare for the long haul.

But as I’ve said before, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. If we’re serious about reducing the deficit we have to combine spending cuts with revenue, and that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.[applause] That’s how we did it. That’s how we did it in the nineteen-nineties when Bill Clinton was President. That’s how we can reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong middle class and a strong economy. That’s the only way we can still afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure that good jobs in clean energy or high tech manufacturing don’t end up in countries like China.

Now, already, I’ve put forward a detailed plan that allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by four trillion dollars over the next decade. I want to be clear, I’m not wedded to every detail of my plan. I’m open to compromise. I’m open to new ideas. I’m committed to solving our fiscal challenges. But I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced. I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, aren’t asked to pay a dime more in taxes. [applause] I’m not going to do that.

And I just want to point out this was a central question during the election. It was debated over and over again. And on Tuesday night we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach and that includes Democrats, independents, and a lot of Republicans across the country, as well as independent economists and budget experts. That’s how you reduce the deficit, with a balanced approach.  

So our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people. And I believe we can get that majority. I was encouraged to hear Speaker Boehner agree that tax revenue has to be part of this equation, so I look forward to hearing his ideas when I see him next week.

And let me make one final point that every American needs to hear. Right now, if Congress fails to come to an agreement on an overall deficit reduction package by the end of the year, everybody’s taxes will automatically go up on January first, everybody’s, including the ninety-eight percent of Americans who make less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. And that makes no sense. It would be bad for the economy and would hit families that are already struggling to make ends meet.

Now, fortunately, we shouldn’t need long negotiations or drama to solve that part of the problem. While there may be disagreement in Congress over whether or not to raise taxes on folks making over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, nobody, not Republicans, not Democrats, want taxes to go up for folks making under two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. So let’s not wait. Even as we’re negotiating a broader deficit reduction package let’s extend the middle class tax cuts right now. [applause] Let’s do that right now.

That one step, that one step, would give millions of families, ninety-eight percent of Americans and ninety-seven percent of small businesses, the certainty that they need going into the new year. It would immediately take a huge chunk of the economic uncertainty off the table,and that will lead to new jobs and faster growth. Business will know that consumers, they’re not going to see a big tax increase. They’ll know that most small businesses won’t see a tax increase. And so, a lot of the uncertainty that you’re reading about, that will be removed. In fact, the Senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this, so all we need is action from the House. And I’ve got the pen ready to sign the bill right away. [applause] I’m ready to do it. I’m ready to do it.    

You know, the American people understand that we’re going to have differences and disagreements in the months to come. They get that. But on Tuesday they said loud and clear that they won’t tolerate dysfunction, they won’t tolerate politicians who view compromise as a dirty word, not when so many Americans are still out of work, not when so many families and small business owners are still struggling to pay the bills. What the American people are looking for is cooperation, they’re looking for consensus, they’re looking for common sense, most of all, they want action.  I intend to deliver for them in my second term, and I expect to find willing partners in both parties to make that happen. So let’s get to work.

Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  [applause]

Speaker John Boehner’s (r) idea is to implement Mitt Romney’s plan (as vague as that was/is). Oh, wait, elections have consequences you say?

Somehow, we all knew that this was a republican campaign ship in search of an iceberg.

Today President Obama was asked about Representative Todd Akin’s comments:

Question: You’re, no doubt, aware of the comments that, uh, Missouri Senate candidate, uh, Republican Todd Akin made on rape and, and abortion. Uh, wondered if you think those, uh, views represent the views of the Republican Party in general. Uh, they’ve been denounced by your own rival and other Republicans. Uh, are they an outlier or are they representative?  

President Obama: Well, let me, let me first of all say, uh, the views expressed were offensive.

Rape is rape.

And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and, uh, slicing, uh, what types of rape, uh, we’re talking about, uh, doesn’t make sense to the American people. Uh, and certainly doesn’t make sense to me.

So, uh, what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, uh, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women.

And, uh, so, although these particular comments, uh, have, uh, have led Governor Romney and, uh, other Republicans to, to distance themselves, I think the underlying notion, uh, that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their healthcare decisions, uh, or qualifying forcible rape versus non-forcible rape, I think those are broader issues, and that is a significant difference, uh, in approach between, uh, between me and the other party.

But I, I, I don’t think that they would agree with, uh, the Senator [Representative] from Missouri in terms of his statement, which was way out there, uh.

Question: Should he drop out of the race [crosstalk], you know?

President Obama: Uh, he was, uh, he was nominated by the Republicans in Missouri. I’ll let them sort that out.

Previously:

Claire McCaskill just got lucky – Akin’s not quitting (August 20, 2012)

Will Todd Akin’s gaffe force the Romney-Ryan campaign to take a firm stand? (August 20, 2012)

GOP furor over Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” remark (August 19, 2012)

You know you’re in bad shape when Dana Loesch comes to your defense (August 19, 2012)

We could have told them about Todd Akin (August 19, 2012)

Todd Akin: “legitimate” rape victims don’t get pregnant (August 19, 2012)