Isn't it pretty unbelievable for a president to make such a statement in what is supposed to be a democracy/constitutional republic?

You have to understand that a debt-ceiling increase is not the same as borrowing more money. The debt ceiling increase is merely paying for things you've already bought. So he is right. You shouldn't negotiate raising the debt ceiling. If you have issues about how the money is spent; it should be debated when the budget is signed, not when the debt ceiling runs out. It's like running up a tab on a credit card and then arguing about what you should spend once the bill comes. Makes absolutely no sense.

The House spent the money. They need to pay the bills by raising the debt ceiling, as has been done regularly for DECADES.

Republicans are playing politics with the nation's credit rating. This is not new, of course, but given that the last time they messed around with it, we were downgraded and the shutdown cost us 10's of BILLIONS.

When will Republicans grow up and realize we have a f-ing President. Elected by wide margins. Twice. Stop ignoring the will of the people and pay the f-ing bills.

Oh, go F- yourself.

You're trying to PRETEND that the GOP have been anything but utterly inhuman and anti-American for the last 6 years. We KNOW they are out to completely wreck the country. They'd be perfectly THRILLED to destroy our credit rating, cost the economy a few trillion dollars, lost tens of millions of jobs, in trying to blackmail the prez and Dems to cave to their destructive and completely insane goals.

You can be as ignorant and brainless, not to mention delusional, as you like. That doesn't make anything you say TRUE.

Whether to completely destroy the lives of most of the citizens of the US should NOT be up for negotiation.

Since there isn't even ONE member of the GOP who are in any way HUMAN, Obama has no choice but to take a stand for the continuation of our society, against their committment to utterly destroy it.

If you had ever known one moment of being human, you'd have known that.

This isn't about the BUDGET. It's about whether to tell the entire world to F- off and to NEVER lend us a penny of money again; it's about tens of millions of Americans suddenly NOT paid money owed them, and losing their homes and even their lives; it's about the destruction of at least hundreds of businesses.

I guess you're only about 2 years old, that you have NO memory of the damage done the last time the GOP tried to completely destroy the country by refusing to PAY what it had VOTED INTO the budget.

Whether we continue to function as a sort of civilized-ish country is NOT up for negotiation, and never should have been.

you and every GOP politician in the US should WALK straight to China, or North Korea. Do the entire world the biggest favor possible; do the ONLY good thing any o fyou are capable of doing.

Do you have any idea what will happen if the government is shut down for a long period of time? I don't either so let shut it down and find out. Who cares if people go without pay checks. Lets them suffer, as long as the republicans get their way. That's what counts.

No but a Dictatorsip does. Hail Obama!

Obama is nothing short of a corporatist crony with totalitarian socialist leanings.

Negotiations are not in the Constitution. Obama is being a strict constructionist.

How can he rule the nation if the republican congress tries t block him. He should just declare congress as no longer valid, send them home to save money and declare all other parties illegal.

Not as unbelievable as the stupidity of this question.

You are absolutely right, on every point, right down the line.