Obama: GOP 'Holding Middle Class Tax Relief Hostage'

From ABCNews.com:

In his first press conference since May, President Obama talked about the economy and announced that he is appointing University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee to be chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, administration sources tell ABC News.

He took aim at the previous administration and the "partisan minority" that he says are blocking his economic proposals.

"Policies of the previous decades have left our economy weaker and our middle class struggling," the president said.

President Obama acknowledged that progress has been "painfully slow."

"Since I am the president and Democrats have control of the House and the Senate, it's understandable that people are saying, you know, what have you done?" President Obama said. "We've still got a long ways to go."