Obama warns congressional Republicans over government funding

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Republicans to stop political brinkmanship on government funding and debt limit in order to avert self-inflicted wounds to the economy. In his weekly address, Obama said there is a fraction "on the far right" of the Republican party who have convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown if they can't shut off the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. "Some are actually willing to plunge America into default if they can't defund the Affordable Care Act," he said. "Both houses of Congress can take a simple vote to pay our bills on time, then work together to pass a budget on time," to avoid reversing economic gains since the end of the recession, said Obama. Bowing to pressure from the Republican conservatives, the House of Representatives on Friday approved a stopgap bill which would fund the government through Oct. 15 at existing funding levels while stripping funding for implementing the healthcare law. "Our message to the United States Senate is simple: the American people don't want the government shutdown, and they don't want Obamacare," said House Speaker John Boehner. The funding bill now moves to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where the Democrats would for certain restore the Obamacare funding before sending it back to the House for passage by Sept. 30 in order to prevent a government shutdown. Later Friday, Obama responded with an angry speech during his tour at a Ford plant in Missouri, saying the Republicans are more interested in politics than the economy. Obama also reiterated his refusal to negotiate over the debt limit, saying the full faith and credit of the United States is not negotiable.