FOXNews.com: Obama turns to familiar refrain in post-election press conference: Blame Bush

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Obama turns to familiar refrain in post-election press conference: Blame Bush Nov 14th 2012, 18:22 President Obama opened his first White House press conference in eight months with a renewed post-election call for Congress -- meaning the Republican-controlled House -- to pass a bill that preserves the Bush-era tax rates for all but top earners.  "We should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy," Obama said.  Republicans, though, worry that failing to preserve the current rates for everyone will end up hurting the economy by hurting small businesses.  The appearance marked the first scheduled, solo news conference for Obama since March. The president spent much of the year campaigning for a second term -- now that he's won it, the president faces a barrage of challenges and controversies.  On the heels of Election Day, the administration is reeling from the controversy surrounding former CIA Director David Petraeus' resignation. The storied general abruptly announced his departure Friday, citing an extramarital affair. According to official accounts, the White House was not informed about the situation until last Wednesday -- however, the investigation had been ongoing for months, raising questions about why the Justice Department and FBI did not notify others in the administration or on the Hill.    Further, Obama continues to face criticism from lawmakers about the Libya terror attack, both in terms of requests for security before the attack that were not met and how the administration described the attack after the fact.  But most pressing on the domestic front is the so-called "fiscal cliff," the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that will hammer the economy come January unless Congress and the White House strike a deal. Obama is meeting with lawmakers Friday to kick of negotiations; they have less than two months to reach an agreement. Congressional budget analysts say that a failure to avert the cliff would trigger another recession next year.

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