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Obama looks back on 2014 as 'year of action' on economy, global leadership

By Matt Bradwell
President Barack Obama makes a comment during his year-end press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Dec. 19, 2014. Obama discussed a range of issues, including relations with Cuba, they cyberattack on Sony, race relations in America and more. The president was scheduled to leave for Hawaii with his family later in the day for the holiday season. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
1 of 12 | President Barack Obama makes a comment during his year-end press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Dec. 19, 2014. Obama discussed a range of issues, including relations with Cuba, they cyberattack on Sony, race relations in America and more. The president was scheduled to leave for Hawaii with his family later in the day for the holiday season. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama addressed North Korea's cyberattack on Sony, America's rapidly changing relationship with Cuba and what he expects from the incoming Republican Senate, among other issues in his year-end press conference Friday.

During the same annual address in 2013, Obama promised 2014 would be a "year of action" for both his administration and the United States. A year later, Obama pointed to the economy and America's leadership in the global community as examples of fulfilling that promise.

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This year, the United States has benefited from "more jobs, more people insured, a growing economy, shrinking deficits and bustling industry," he said, noting that America has become the world's leading producer of oil and natural gas, saving Americans 70 cents per gallon, in addition to boosting the economy.

Obama highlighted the 10 million newly insured Americans, adding the price of healthcare has risen at its lowest rate since the 1950s as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

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Obama also spoke to the recently concluded automotive industry bailout as indicator of economic success, declaring the industry "repaid taxpayers every dime."

"Take any metric you want, America's recovery is real."

Despite his optimism about the country's current trajectory, Obama said he remains committed to working with the new Congress to "make sure the middle class is the engine that powers our prosperity for decades to come" by ensuring "the government is working better and smarter."

Obama said he will again circumvent Congress by using executive action to advance some economic policies if the new House is as inactive as its predecessor, but added, "If executive actions bother [Congress] there is a very simple solution: Pass bills."

Globally, Obama said the United States asserted itself as a leader in the medical fight against Ebola and the literal fight against the Islamic State, while simultaneously returning the military to American shores.

"Today, more of our troops are home for the holidays than any time in over a decade."

When discussing the end of America's embargo on Cuba, Obama made clear that despite the opportunity to improve relations, the two countries are hardly riding off into the sunset together.

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"This is still a regime that represses its people," Obama said.

"As I said when I made the announcement, I don't anticipate overnight changes. But I know deep in my bones that if you've done something the same for 50 years, you have to do something different if you want a different outcome."

Obama said the newly allowed influx of American vacationers, faith outreach groups and human rights activists, coupled with advances in Cuban telecommunications access, will open up Cuba to the global community by chipping away at this "hermetically sealed society."

"Change is going to come to Cuba. It has to. They have an economy that doesn't work."

Asked about North Korea's confirmed cyberattack on Sony in response to the satirical film the Interview, Obama declined to expand on Press Secretary Josh Earnest's statement that the White House is considering a "proportional response," but criticized Sony for pulling the film without consulting the State Department.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States. Imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary they don't like, or news reports they don't like. Or, even worse, imagine if producers and distributors and others started engaging in self-censorship because they don't want to offend the sensibilities of somebody whose sensitivities ought to be offended. That's not America. That's not who we are."

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When asked, Obama would not say whether he planned to watch The Interview.

Obama also discussed the Keystone XL pipeline, the current state of black America, and tax reform -- a long unfulfilled campaign promise dating back to his first election.

With the Republicans now in control of both houses of Congress, the only thing standing in the way of a Keystone bill landing on Obama's desk is a Nebraska judge's ruling on its latest proposed route through the Cornhusker State.

While he did not commit to vetoing any Keystone legislation passed by Congress, Obama made it clear he still had reserves about whether the project makes economic sense.

"At issue in Keystone is not American oil -- it's Canadian oil," Obama pointed out.

"It would save Canadian oil companies and the Canadian oil industry if they could simply pipe it right to the Gulf of Mexico ...There's nominal impact on U.S. gas prices -- what the average American consumer cares about -- by having this pipeline come through."

Obama said he is aware of the project's potential to create jobs, but he is wary that they would prove to be "a couple thousand temporary jobs" when the administration is trying to prioritize infrastructure spending to create job growth

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"We could be rebuilding our roads and bridges. We could create hundreds of thousands of jobs or millions of jobs."

Tax reform will remain a priority for Obama, with the administration hoping to add "more simplicity and fairness" to America's tax code while also closing corporate loopholes.

"With respect to corporate tax reform, we know there are companies that are paying the full freight, 35 percent, and other companies that are paying zero because they have better accountants and lawyers. That's not fair."

To close, Obama candidly addressed the state of black America in the wake of rising tensions between minority communities and law enforcement.

"Like the rest of America, black America is better off in the aggregate than when I took office," Obama began.

"The gap between income and wealth [between] white and black America persists. We've got more work to do on that front. I've been consistent in saying this is a legacy of a troubled racial past."

He went on, "How we're thinking about race relations is colored by Ferguson and the [New York Eric] Garner case." But he said that doesn't change "the specific instances where law enforcement doesn't feel as if its being applied in a colorblind fashion."

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The president pointed to his newly formed Task Force on 21st Century Policing as a positive step in improving the American experience for minorities, saying the group will push specific action to manifest tangible societal changes.

"The task force that I formed is supposed to report back to me in 90 days. Not with bunch of abstract musings on race relations," but concrete recommendations.

"This isn't a situation where people feel good seeing someone choked and dying -- I think that troubles everyone. [But], there is an opportunity for all of us to come together and take a practical approach to these problems."

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