Obama Accuses Republicans Of Acting Like A ‘Deadbeat’ By Refusing To Raise The Debt Limit

Source: Associated Press

By Associated Press, Published: July 24 | Updated: Thursday, July 25, 4:50 PM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Casting House Republicans as stubborn deadbeats, President Barack Obama sought Thursday to discredit House Republicans in upcoming fiscal fights by painting them as roadblocks to a thriving middle class.

With Obama and Congress approaching all-too-familiar showdowns over spending levels and the nation’s borrowing limit, Obama used a visit to a seaside port in Florida to argue that the nation’s economic agenda should be immune to the partisan backbiting he faulted Republicans for instigating.

“Shutting down the government just because I’m for keeping it open — that’s not an economic plan,” Obama said, wiping sweat from his face in a muggy port warehouse. “Threatening that you won’t pay the bills in this country, when we’ve already racked up those bills, that’s not an economic plan — that’s just being a deadbeat.”

In the last of three stops on a two-day tour to reframe his broad economic vision for the nation, Obama pitched the need for enhanced American infrastructure at this port and others across the country — and for better roads, bridges and power grids. But while he touted his efforts to streamline permitting, the president offered no new proposals for how Americans and their leaders could accelerate a lethargic economic recovery.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/obama-pledges-renewed-economic-focus-says-washington-has-taken-eye-off-the-ball/2013/07/24/3176fa60-f4c4-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html