Washington - Every American would suffer from a failure to raise the debt ceiling, US President Barack Obama said on Friday, also telling a town hall meeting he was sure Congress would reach a deal to avert default.
“We have never defaulted on our debt and we’re not about to do it now,” he said, describing a need to act as a result of costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stimulus spending and other decisions that have widened the budget gap.
“There is simply too much debt on America’s credit card. Neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem but both parties have a responsibility to solve it,” he said. “If we don’t solve it, every American will suffer.”
He he discussed with White House counsel whether the 14th Amendment offered an alternative to raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit, and they concluded it did not.
“There is a provision in our Constitution that speaks to making sure that the United States meets its obligations and there have been some suggestions that a president could use that language to basically ignore that debt ceiling rule, which is a statutory rule,” Obama said.
“I have talked to my lawyers, they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument,” he said.
“We have never defaulted on our debt and we’re not about to do it now,” he said, describing a need to act as a result of costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stimulus spending and other decisions that have widened the budget gap.
“There is simply too much debt on America’s credit card. Neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem but both parties have a responsibility to solve it,” he said. “If we don’t solve it, every American will suffer.”
He he discussed with White House counsel whether the 14th Amendment offered an alternative to raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit, and they concluded it did not.
“There is a provision in our Constitution that speaks to making sure that the United States meets its obligations and there have been some suggestions that a president could use that language to basically ignore that debt ceiling rule, which is a statutory rule,” Obama said.
“I have talked to my lawyers, they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument,” he said.