US Default: President Obama can and should ""blow-up" Republican T-Party intransigence by evoking the 14th Amendment

President Obama warns Republicans

It seems quite likely a deal will not be made before financial markets open on Monday. All eyes are now on a deadline of Thursday when, according to the Treasury, the $16.7tn debt limit must be raised in order for the US to continue paying its creditors.

It also is quite unlikely Reid and McConnell can reach a deal in the senate over the next 24 hours becauese procedural complications mean a vote might not be taken until Wednesday or even Thursday, a senior congressional aide said.

Republican members of the House gathered for a private meeting with the speaker, John Boehner on Saturday morning. The Republican leader informed his fellow representatives that discussions with the president had not yielded any prospect of a deal. "The president rejected our deal," said the Idaho representative Raul Labrador, immediately after the meeting.

The deal the President rejected included  new provisions to destroy Obamacare and chip away at other entitlement programs.

When asked if she thinks Obama should cite the 14th Amendment and raise the debt ceiling himself if House Republicans pick a fight over it, Delegate Donna Christensen (Virgin Islands) told The Huffington Post: "If we have to, yes."

Some Republicans have been downplaying the consequences of a default, despite dire warnings from economists of the damage it would do to both the U.S. and the global economy.
Christensen said she knows the president has stated that the constitutional approach is not an option for him.

The White House repeatedly rejects the idea when it comes up. But Christensen thinks Obama could be bluffing.

"I'm hoping he's just playing it close to his chest and doesn't want to give the other side any ammunition against it in advance," she said with a smile.

Evoking the 14th Amendment would certainly not hurt the President but rather show him as a strong leader who can stand above party politics when it comes to the interest of the country.

EU-Digest
 

USA Lockdown: Boehner says U.S. on path to default if Obama won't negotiate - by Caren Bohan and Andy Sullivan

Republican House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling without a "serious conversation" about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was irresponsible and reckless to raise the possibility of a U.S. default.

"The nation's credit is at risk because of the administration's refusal to sit down and have a conversation," Boehner told ABC's "This Week," adding that there were not enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass a "clean" debt limit bill, without any conditions attached.

Asked if that meant the United States was headed towards a default if President Barack Obama did not negotiate ahead of an October 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, Boehner said: "That's the path we're on."

The comments appeared to mark a hardening since late last week when Boehner was reported to have told Republicans privately that he would work to avoid default, even if it meant relying on the votes of Democrats, as he did in August 2011.

Read more: Boehner says U.S. on path to default if Obama won't negotiate - Yahoo News