US President Barack Obama has stepped up his personal engagement with lawmakers over the Government shutdown, which the White House hoped would help in resolving the current economic crisis, including raising the debt ceiling by October 17.
Obama, who cancelled his 10-day trip to Asia to stay at the White House and resolve the current political impasse over the budget with the Republicans that has resulted in the Government shutdown for the first time in 17 years, had yesterday met the Democratic Party lawmakers.
During the meeting, he told lawmakers that he would negotiate with the Republicans but “not with a gun at my head.” The meeting lasted over an hour.
He is scheduled to meet the Republican Party lawmakers at the White House tomorrow.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Obama is disappointed that Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner is preventing his members from coming to the White House.
“The President thought it was important to talk directly with the members who forced this economic crisis on the country about how the shutdown and a failure to pay the country’s bills could devastate the economy,” Carney said.
The White House had invited the full Republican caucus to participate in a meeting with the President, but the Speaker opted to send a smaller delegation, including leadership members and committee chairmen, a Boehner aide had said yesterday.
“Nine days into a government shutdown and a week away from breaching the debt ceiling, a meeting is only worthwhile if it is focused on finding a solution. That’s why the House Republican Conference will instead be represented by a smaller group of negotiators, including the elected leadership and certain committee chairmen,” Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said.
Meanwhile, in local television interviews, Obama blamed Republicans for the current government shutdown which entered its ninth day.
“Nobody’s explained to me so far why you have to shutdown the government to have a negotiation and nobody’s explained to me so far why you have to threaten the full faith and credit of the United States in order to have a negotiation,” Obama told the Tampa NBC affiliate.