Obama Fires Back: GOP 'Trying to Mess With Me'

Hours after House Republicans passed a budget bill that would defund ObamaCare, President Obama lashed back during a combative speech at a Ford plant in Liberty, Mo., reports the Hill. He accused Congress of playing political games with both a potential government shutdown and the debt ceiling that turn the US into a "banana republic" and a "deadbeat nation." (He used the latter phrase at least three times, notes the Washington Post.) Other quotes:

• “Unfortunately right now, the debate going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle class families. They’re not focused on you. They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on trying to mess with me. They’re not focused on you.”
• Referring to the defunding of ObamaCare (which doesn't stand a chance in the Senate): "You don't have to threaten to blow the whole thing up just because you don't get your way. Nobody gets 100% of what they want."
• Failing to raise the debt limit would be the "height of irresponsibility," said Obama. “This is not some abstract thing,” and it could well result in an "economic tailspin."

(More President Obama stories.)