Barack Obama

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President Barack Obama responds to questions from reporters during a press conference in the East Room at The White House in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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President Barack Obama, flanked by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, as he hosted meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, speaks to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, as he hosted a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama pauses as he hosts a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. From left are, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, the president, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama acknowledges House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio while speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, as he hosted a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, followed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., leaves the White House the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, to speak to the media after meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the economy and the deficit. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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** FILE ** In this Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, file photo, President Barack Obama listens as Vice President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House. Asked to name the one step they'd push most urgently if they were the newly re-elected President Barack Obama, a dozen leading economists advise President Barack Obama to sidestep the "fiscal cliff" during his second term of office. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

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President Barack Obama ducks into a tent to greet people at a FEMA recovery center on the grounds of New Dorp High School on the Staten Island borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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A home destroyed by Superstorm Sandy is seen on Cedar Grove Avenue on Staten Island, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 in New York., as President Barack Obama tours the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama comforts a woman at the FEMA recovery center on the grounds of New Dorp High School, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, on Staten Island, in New York. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., right, is greeted by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, second from right, and New York Mayor City Michael Bloomberg as he arrives at JFK International Airport in New York, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, en route to visit areas devastated by Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. Charles Schumer, D.N.Y., and other, hugs Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., after a news conference on Cedar Grove Avenue, a street significantly impacted by Superstorm Sandy, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, on Staten Island, in New York. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)