Obama urges Democrats, Republicans to work on budget differences

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Democrats and Republicans to work on their budget differences to end the fiscal logjam, saying he is willing to talk with Republicans only after the threats of government shutdown and debt default are removed.

Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives do not get to demand ransom for doing their basic jobs of funding the government, Obama said at a press conference in the White House.

“Two of their very basic jobs are passing a budget and making sure that America’s paying its bills,” Obama said.

He urged U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to hold a vote immediately to pass a funding bill and reopen the government.

“This morning, I had a chance to speak with Speaker Boehner, and I told him what I’ve been saying publicly, that I am happy to talk with him and other Republicans about anything, not just issues I think are important, but also issues that they think are important,” Obama said.

“But I also told him that having such a conversation, talks, negotiations shouldn’t require hanging the threats of a government shutdown or economic chaos over the heads of the American people,” Obama added.

The U.S. federal government lurched into a partial shutdown after Congress failed to pass a funding bill before Oct. 1, the first day of the 2014 fiscal year. Republicans in the House of Representatives were demanding changes to Obama’s signature health care law, or Obamacare, in exchange for funding the government, which the White House opposes.

“We can’t afford these manufactured crises every few months,” Obama said.

Speaking hours after Obama’s press conference at the White House, Boehner reiterated that an increase of the government’s borrowing authority must be tied with fiscal reforms to reduce the government’s budget deficits.

Boehner and other GOP leaders have suggested creating a bipartisan group consisting of lawmakers from the Senate and House to solve the fiscal deadlock.

However, the White House said on Tuesday in a statement that Obama would veto a bill passed earlier Tuesday by the Republican- led House of Representatives to create a bipartisan panel to make recommendations on reducing the government budget deficits, fresh evidence that there are still many fiscal differences to be resolved.