President Barack Obama gives a press conference in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 14, 2012.

(Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Today, President Obama held a news conference to answer questions about his plans for the next four years. He made one thing clear: his job is to help American families and small businesses get ahead in the wake of the recession.

I’ve got a mandate to help middle-class families and families that are working hard to try to get into the middle class. That’s my mandate. That’s what the American people said. They said: Work really hard to help us. Don’t worry about the politics of it; don’t worry about the party interests; don’t worry about the special interests. Just work really hard to see if you can help us get ahead — because we’re working really hard out here and we’re still struggling, a lot of us.

The most immediate issue facing President Obama and lawmakers here in Washington is a year-end deadline that will require some big decisions on jobs, taxes and deficits — and have a real effect on families all over the country.

The President said there's one thing we can do right now to provide a foundation for a solution that helps the economy and gives middle-class families more certainty in the coming weeks. And it's something that everyone agrees on: pass a law that would prevent any tax hike whatsoever on the first $ 250,000 of everybody’s income.

"That means every American, including the wealthiest Americans, get a tax cut," he said. "It means that 98 percent of all Americans, and 97 percent of all small businesses won’t see their taxes go up a single dime." 

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