Obama to ask business leaders to push Congress to raise debt limit

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama will appeal to business leaders on Wednesday to urge Congress to approve an increase in the U.S. debt limit and avoid a default that is possible as early as mid-October.

Obama is to address the Business Roundtable as part of a renewed push to focus on domestic budget and economic issues after a month dominated by foreign policy.

The U.S. Treasury is expected to exhaust measures to avoid exceeding the $16.7 trillion debt limit as soon as mid-October. If the cap is not raised, the United States will not be able to pay all of its bills and would go into default.

Obama will tell business leaders that they should pile pressure on Congress, which must vote to increase U.S. borrowing capacity, to avoid a default.

Republicans in the House of Representatives last week considered a plan to tie raising the debt limit to withholding funds for Obama’s signature healthcare overhaul, but put off a vote because the party’s most fiscally conservative members felt the plan lacked teeth.

It is possible that a federal government shutdown and debt default could result from the budget standoff, although such an outcome has been avoided in past spending battles.

 

Reuters has the full article

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