President Obama says GOP will not ‘ransom’ America over debt ceiling
President Obama followed the Saturday press release on the debt ceiling with a speech Monday to target the GOP and negotiations over the debt ceiling.
“They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy,” Mr. Obama said during his final news conference of his first term in office. “The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip.”
The president repeated his vow to seek what he called a “balanced” approach to reduce the nation’s deficit during the months ahead. But he said he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling, and he said Republicans in Congress would be responsible for the effects of a refusal to raise it.
“It would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy,” Mr. Obama said. “It would slow down our growth and tip us into recession. To even entertain the idea of this happening is irresponsible. It’s absurd.”
“America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they’ve already racked up.”
“We can’t manage our affairs in such a way that we pay our bills and we provide some certainty in the way we pay our bills?” he said with a tone of exasperation. “I don’t think anyone would consider my position unreasonable here.”
Responding to Mr. Obama’s remarks, the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, said in a statement: “The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time. The consequences of failing to increase the debt ceiling are real, but so too are the consequences of allowing our spending problem to go unresolved.”
He added: “Without meaningful action, the debt will continue to act as an anchor on our economy, costing American jobs and endangering our children’s future. 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.”
From the White House Press Secretary:
“There are only two options to deal with the debt limit: Congress can pay its bills or it can fail to act and put the nation into default. When Congressional Republicans played politics with this issue last time, putting us at the edge of default, it was a blow to our economic recovery, causing our nation’s credit rating to be downgraded. The President and the American people won’t tolerate Congressional Republicans holding the American economy hostage again simply so they can force disastrous cuts to Medicare and other programs the middle class depend on while protecting the wealthy. Congress needs to do its job.”
[…] the debt ceiling, the President came out targeting the Congress saying, “They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy,” Mr. Obama […]