President Obama's End of the Year Press Conference

Before his Hawaiian vacation begins, President Obama gave a year-end press conference on a wide variety of issues, including the NSA spying scandal and the continuing healthcare roll-out. The president looks back but also looks forward to the rest of his second term in his responses to reporter's questions. Here are 27 words to help navigate the numerous topics covered. Transcript available here from The Washington Post, December 20, 2013.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fiscal
    involving financial matters
    Our tax code is fairer and our fiscal situation is firmer, with deficits that are now less than half of what they were when I took office.
  2. deficit
    an amount that is less than expected or required
    Our tax code is fairer and our fiscal situation is firmer, with deficits that are now less than half of what they were when I took office.
  3. diligently
    in a hard-working manner
    And, for all the challenges we’ve had and all the challenges that we’ve been working on diligently in dealing with both the ACA and the website these past couple months, more than half a million Americans have enrolled through healthcare.gov in the first three weeks of December alone.
    "ACA" stands for Affordable Care Act, the President's health care program.
  4. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    Since October 1st, more than 1 million Americans have selected new health insurance plans through the federal and state marketplaces, so all told, millions of Americans, despite the problems with the website, are now poised to be covered by quality affordable health insurance come New Year’s Day.
  5. sequester
    keep away from others
    That unwinds some of the damaging sequester cuts that created headwinds for our economy.
  6. bipartisan
    supported by both sides
    I know a bipartisan group is working on a three-month extension of this insurance.
  7. initiate
    set in motion, start an event or prepare the way for
    So we don't always get attention for it, but the ConnectED program that we announced, where we're going to be initiating wireless capacity in every classroom in America, will make a huge difference for kids all across this country and for teachers; a manufacturing hub that we set up in Youngstown, something that I talked about during the State of the Union, is going to create innovation and connect universities, manufacturers, job training, to help create a renaissance -- build on the renaissanc
  8. initiative
    the first of a series of actions
    So I understand the point that you're getting at, Julie, which is that a lot of our legislative initiatives in Congress have not moved forward as rapidly as I'd like.
  9. brooding
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    And the fact that it didn't hit the timeline that I'd prefer is obviously frustrating, but it's not something that I end up brooding a lot about.
  10. adequately
    in a sufficient manner
    I think in the last press conference I adequately discussed my frustrations on those.
  11. rein
    keep in check
    As you review how to rein in the National Security Agency, a federal judge says that, for example, the government has failed to cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata actually stopped an imminent attack.
  12. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    As you review how to rein in the National Security Agency, a federal judge says that, for example, the government has failed to cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata actually stopped an imminent attack.
  13. extensive
    large in spatial extent or range or scope or quantity
    I had an extensive meeting with them down in the Situation Room to review all the recommendations that they've made.
  14. proliferation
    a rapid increase in number
    I want to thank them publicly because I think they did an excellent job and took my charge very seriously, which is I told them, I want you to look from top to bottom at what we're doing and evaluate whether or not the current structures that we have and the current programs that we have are properly addressing both our continuing need to keep ourselves secure and to prevent terrorist attacks or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or other threats to the homeland, and are we also making
  15. alleged
    doubtful or suspect
    And I think it's important to note that in all the reviews of this program that have been done, in fact, there have not been actual instances where it's been alleged that the NSA in some ways acted inappropriately in the use of this data.
  16. algorithm
    a precise rule specifying how to solve some problem
    I have confidence in the fact that the NSA is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around, but I also recognize that as technologies change and people can start running algorithms and programs that map out all the information that we're downloading on a daily basis into our telephones and our computers that we may have to refine this further to give people more confidence.
  17. audit
    examine carefully for accuracy
    In some ways, what has been more challenging is the fact that we do have a lot of laws and checks and balances and safeguards and audits when it comes to making sure that the NSA and other intelligence agencies are not spying on Americans.
  18. oversight
    management by watching and directing a person or group
    And you claimed to the American people that you had already reformed many of these surveillance programs, that you came to office, quote, "my team evaluated them; we scrubbed them thoroughly; we actually expanded some of the oversight."
  19. amok
    wildly; without self-control
    But you concluded with, quote, "you can complain about Big Brother and how this is a potential program run amok, but when you actually look at the details, then I think we've struck the right balance."
  20. unilaterally
    by means of one part or party
    We can't unilaterally disarm.
  21. transparency
    the quality of being clear
    There are ways we can do it, potentially, that gives people greater assurance that there are checks and balances -- that there's sufficient oversight and sufficient transparency.
  22. procurement
    the act of getting possession of something
    Part of it, as I've said before, had to do with how IT procurement generally is done, and it almost predates this year.
  23. brace
    prepare for something unpleasant or difficult
    Absolutely, but I also think that in some ways, given the pattern that we have been going through with House Republicans for a while, we might have needed just a little bit of a bracing sort of recognition that this is not what the American people think is acceptable.
  24. accrued
    periodically accumulated over time
    No, we're not going to negotiate for Congress to pay bills that it has accrued.
  25. amnesty
    a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense
    Rick Leggett, who is the head of the NSA task force on Edward Snowden, told "60 Minutes" that it was, quote, "worth having a conversation about granting Edward Snowden amnesty."
  26. dissident
    a person who objects to some established policy
    And as a consequence of these disclosures, we've got countries who actually do the things that Mr. Snowden says he's worried about, very explicitly -- engaging in surveillance of their own citizens, targeting political dissidents, targeting and suppressing the press, who somehow are able to sit on the sidelines and act as if it's the United States that has problems when it comes to surveillance and intelligence operations.
  27. mandate
    make obligatory
    This one here, this new waiver last night -- could argue you might as well have just delayed the mandate.
Created on Fri Dec 20 15:33:54 EST 2013 (updated Fri Dec 20 16:00:39 EST 2013)

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