No negotiations over debt ceiling, Obama says

2013-12-20 22

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President Barack Obama said on Friday that he will not negotiate with Congress over raising the debt ceiling, something Congress will need to agree to do early in 2014.

"No, we're not going to negotiate for Congress to pay bills that it has accrued," he said, telling reporters in a news conference that he does not expect a stand-off over the issue.

"I can't imagine that having seen this possible daylight breaking when it comes to cooperation in Congress that folks were thinking about plunging us back into the kind of brinksmanship and governance by crisis that

has done us so much harm over the last couple of years," Obama said.