President Barack Obama tried to go over the heads of GOP Congressional leaders on Friday, pleading with Republican voters to back his plans for revenue-raising measures to be included alongside spending cuts in a debt ceiling deal.
He claimed 80 percent of Americans support what he called “a balanced approach” to the problem and it is time Republicans on the Hill listened.
Taking repeated potshots at the GOP leadership, Obama said, “The American people do not want to see a bunch of posturing. What they want is for us to solve problems.
“The clear majority of Republican voters think that any deficit reduction package should have a balanced approach and should include some revenues,” Obama said. “That’s not just Democrats. That’s the majority of Republicans.
“At what point do (Republicans in Congress) start looking to the people who put them in office?
“I don’t expect politicians to not think about politics. But every so often there are issues that are urgent, that have to be attended to that require us to do things that we don’t like to do.
“The problem is that members of Congress have dug in ideologically… They have boxed themselves in with their previous statements.”
Despite saying repeatedly that the country is running out of time with less than three weeks to the Treasury’s Aug. 2 deadline, the president seemed to downplay the problem. “We don’t have to do anything radical to solve this problem. We aren’t Greece, we aren’t Portugal,” he said.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
