President calls debt crisis ‘self-created’
As President Barack Obama sat down with television stations from three key political states, he said he is still hopeful the White House and congressional leadership will come to an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling but said politics is interfering.
“This is actually a self-created crisis in some ways. It has to do with folks who are digging into set positions rather than saying how do we solve a problem,” the president told KMBC, a CNN affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri.
When asked if people can expect their Social Security checks in August, he told the station it is not guaranteed.
“I am going to do everything in my power to make sure they do. My interest here is not scaring people. I want everyone to understand the consequences. If you don’t have money you have to make very difficult choices. The fact of the matter is if you don’t raise the debt ceiling then we have more obligations - 70 million checks have to be sent out - and all of those have to be covered.”