Obama: GOP Trying to ‘Extract Ransom’ over CR Negotiations

President Obama urged House Republicans to abandon efforts to defund or delay the health-care law during a briefing on Monday afternoon just seven hours before a potential government shutdown. The president accused Republicans of trying “to save face after making some impossible promises to the extreme right wing of their party” over the issue of Obamacare.

“You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there’s a law there you don’t like” the president said. “Congress needs to keep our government open, needs to pay our bills on time, and never ever threaten the full faith and credit the United States of America.”