The White House Blog

The President on Debt Negotiations: 80 Percent of the American People Support a Balanced Approach

Posted by Colleen Curtis on July 15, 2011 at 01:58 PM EDT

President Obama today challenged Congressional leaders to step back and look at what is good for the country in a press conference held to address the ongoing negotiations on raising the debt ceiling.

He stressed that while Washington has been “obsessing” over the debate, what the “American people are obsessing about right now is that unemployment is still way too high and too many folks’ homes are still underwater, and prices of things that they need, not just that they want, are going up a lot faster than their paychecks are if they’ve got a job.”

The President also said that he retains hope that the talks will produce a meaningful outcome and that there is still time to put together a “big deal”.

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