And, in what could be construed as a shift in tone, Obama said he is open to negotiations over his healthcare plan and budget issues, but only after Congress approves measures to end a week-long government shutdown and raise the U.S. debt ceiling.
"As soon as that happens I am eager and ready to negotiate with Republicans on a whole range of issues: how do we create more jobs, how do we build the economy, how do we boost manufacturing," said Obama, in a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday to spotlight the loss of government services because of the shutdown.
...the media reporting sucks. They editorialize a "shift in tone" and cherry pick a statement to support the point.
Here is the President's speech:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023803151
There was no "shift in tone." This is what he said right leading up to that statement.
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We’re not going to negotiate under the threat of further harm to our economy and middle-class families. We’re not going to negotiate under the threat of a prolonged shutdown until Republicans get 100 percent of what they want. We’re not going to negotiate under the threat of economic catastrophe that economists and CEOs increasingly warn would result if Congress chose to default on America’s obligations.
Now, the other thing I heard over the weekend was this notion that Congress doesn’t have the capacity to end this shutdown. The truth of the matter is there are enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives right now to end this shutdown immediately, with no partisan strings attached. The House should hold that vote today. If Republicans and Speaker Boehner are saying there are not enough votes, then they should prove it. Let the bill go to the floor and let’s see what happens. Just vote. Let every member of Congress vote their conscience and they can determine whether or not they want to shut the government down.
My suspicion is -- my very strong suspicion is that there are enough votes there. And the reason that Speaker Boehner hasn’t called a vote on it is because he doesn’t, apparently, want to see the government shutdown end at the moment unless he’s able to extract concessions that don't have anything to do with the budget. Well, I think the American people simply want government to work. And there’s no reason that there has to be a shutdown in order for the kinds of negotiations Speaker Boehner says he wants to proceed. Hold a vote. Call a vote right now, and let’s see what happens.
The second thing Congress needs to do is to raise the debt ceiling next week so the Treasury can pay the bills that Congress has already spent. That's what most Americans do if they buy something -- if they buy a car or if they buy a house, if they put something on a credit card, they understand they’ve got to pay the bills.
This is something routine. It’s been done more than 40 times since Ronald Reagan was President. It has never before been used in the kind of ways that the Republicans are talking about using it right now. We can't threat an economic catastrophe in the midst of budget negotiations.
So authorize the Treasury to pay America’s bill. Pass a budget, end the government shutdown, pay our bills, and prevent an economic shutdown.
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