Video: President Obama 'open to new ideas' in fiscal cliff talks In his first appearance at the White House since defeating his Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Tuesday's election, President Obama said he was committed to solving America's fiscal challenges. "The American people voted for action, not politics as usual," he said. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours, and in that spirit, I have invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week so we can start to build concencus around the challenges that we can only solve together. The president revealed that he intends to consult business, labour and civic leaders from across the country to get their input on how best to deal with the challenges facing the economy. He reiterated that America's top priority must be jobs and growth and said that what people want now is "co-operation, concencus, common sense and action."