| Obama to Republicans: No Debt Ceiling Negotiations |
| Jan-14-2013 |
| Keywords: obama, no, negotiate, negotiating, debt ceiling, republican, spending cut |
President Obama on Monday took a defiant tone in addressing Republican desires to raise the debt ceiling only equal to cuts in federal spending.
"They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the economy," Obama warned. "The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip. And they better decide quickly because time is running short."
A number of Republicans have said they would be willing to allow a U.S. debt default or a government shutdown to force the Obama administration to accept deeper spending cuts than the White House would like.
"It would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy," he said. "Even entertaining the idea of this happening, of the United States of America not paying its bills, is irresponsible. It's absurd."
The president faced some blunt questions for reports, some of whom reminded him that he and other president's had agreed to compromises in spending in order to get the increase to the nation's debt limit.
CBS reporter Major Garrett reminded the president that as Senator, he'd voted against an increase to the debt ceiling under the George W. Bushes second administration.
Here is then-Senator Barack Obama on March 16, 2006:
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies."
Today, now President Obama said "If the goal is to make sure that we are being responsible about our debt and our deficit - if that's the conversation we're having, I'm happy to have that conversation." But warned, "What I will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the American people."
The president's remarks today were met with stern responses from Republicans in both chambers of Congress.
"I do know that the most important issue confronting the future of our country is our deficit and debt," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said. "So we are hoping for a new seriousness on the part of the president with regard to the single biggest issue confronting the country, and we look forward to working with him to do something about this huge, huge problem."
House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement, "The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time. ... The House will do its job and pass responsible legislation that controls spending, meets our nation's obligations and keeps the government running, and we will insist that the Democratic majority in Washington do the same."
As it stands now, the nation's debt is nearing the $16.4 cap, and is expected to reach the limit between February 15 and March 1 of this year. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 12:00 PM Email to a friend |
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