President Obama made an end-of-the-year declaration that the U.S. economy is coming roaring back and that most Americans are better off than they have been in years.
“Pick any metric you want,” Obama told his reporters in his final press conference of the year. “America’s resurgence is real – we are better off.”
Referring to 2014 as a “breakthrough year,” Obama said 2014 was the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s and noted that U.S. businesses have created a record number of new jobs and wages are on the rise again.
Rejecting the narrative that he is a lame duck with limited power in his last two years in office, the president only briefly referred to the deep Democratic losses in the 2014 midterm elections, saying he “sincerely” wants to work with the new Republican majorities in Congress when it comes to making the lives of hardworking middle-class Americans better.
He also suggested a willingness to compromise with Republicans at times next year.
“We’re going to disagree on some things, but there are going to be areas of agreement and that’s going to involve compromises,” he said. “We learned through the lame duck” that it’s possible.
Other accomplishments, he said, include the country moving into the position of being the top producer of oil and natural gas, and that the American auto industry has fully recovered from the economic crisis and now is on track for its strongest year since 2005.
Thanks to Obamacare, he said, millions of Americans now have gained health insurance and health care has risen at the slowest rate in 50 years.
Around the world, he cited American leadership in developing a coalition to degrade and destroy the Islamic State, leading assistance to Ukraine, working to normalize relations with Cuba, and ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of the month.
“Moore troops are home for the holidays than in a decade,” he said.
In general, he said, he was “energized” and “excited about the prospects for the next couple of years.”
“My presidency is entering the fourth quarter, and interesting things happen in the fourth quarter,” he remarked.
