WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he is willing to negotiate with Republicans over health care or any other topic, but only after Congress passes a short-term government funding measure and increases the debt limit.
“What I’ve said is that I will talk about anything,” he said, after declaring in his opening statement, “We can’t make extortion routine as part of our democracy.”
Obama said that the United States could not afford to deal with “manufactured crises” over funding the government and paying its existing obligations.
“Think about it this way: The American people do not get to demand a ransom for doing their jobs,” he said. “You don’t get a chance to call your bank and say I’m not going to pay my mortgage this month unless you throw in a new car and an Xbox.”
Obama also pointed out that the shutdown had occurred as a result of Republicans’ strong opposition to the health care law he passed. “The way we got to this point was one thing and one thing only: this Republican obsession with dismantling the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “Most Americans — Democrats and Republicans — agree that health care should not have anything to do with keeping our government open or paying our bills on time.”
Read the rest of Huffington Post’s report here.
