Obama: “If we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we’ll be deadbeats”

Speaking from a Ford automotive plant in Liberty, Mo., President Barack Obama delivered the latest in a series of speeches that touted economic progress and addressed the fiscal showdown with Republicans.

Obama blasted House Republicans for suggesting that a failure to lift the debt ceiling wouldn’t carry negative consequences on the U.S. economy.

“Basically, America becomes a deadbeat,” he said.