Obama: Congress shouldn't toy with debt limit

Obama: Congress shouldn't toy with debt limit

During a Twitter-powered town hall discussion on Wednesday, President Barack Obama said Congress "shouldn't be toying with" the debt limit.

Asked whether he'd "issue an executive order to raise the debt ceiling," the president said "we shouldn't even get to" that constitutional argument.
Obama was referring to a section of the Fourteenth Amendment which would theoretically allow him to disregard the debt limit and to keep selling Treasury bonds to finance government operations.
Story: A user's guide to the debt debate

"The debt ceiling should not be something used as a gun against the head of the American people," said the president, who contended his opponents were using it as a bargaining chip to extend tax cuts for the wealthy.

Said the official response tweet from the White House, summarizing the president's argument: "US default can't be threat for protection of tax loopholes for very richest Americans."

Obama is seeking to reduce the deficit, in part, through new tax revenue raised by closing loopholes and tax subsidies. Among the loopholes cited by the White House are tax benefits for corporate jets.

He also has called for ending subsidies to oil and gas companies, a proposal that would generate about $40 billion in revenue over 10 years. Republicans have opposed measures that raise taxes.
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