In a harsh verbal lashing, President Obama struck back at House Republicans who on Thursday passed a stopgap spending measure that would to continue government operations, but block funding for the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare."
"They're trying to mess with me," said the president in a speech in Kansas City Thursday afternoon.
The president angrily called out conservatives who voted largely on party lines hours before they acted to strike down his signature health care overhaul law days before the government runs out of money.
"They're focused on politics; they're focused on trying to mess with me," Obama told a crowd at a Ford plant, reports CBS News. "They're not focused on you."
But in a campaign-style speech to autoworkers, the president revved his engine against those he called "a faction on the far right." He says they convinced their leadership to pursue policies that could result in a government shutdown or default, if funding for his signature health care program is not cut off.
He summoned Congress to quickly pass a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown beginning the start of the new fiscal year October 1st, and to also enact an increase in the debt ceiling, so the U.S. Treasury can resume borrowing to pay its obligations.
"They're willing to plunge America into default, if we can't defund Obamacare," said the president, according to NBC News.
"They're not focused on you," the president told about 2,000 Ford autoworkers gathered on the floor of the stamping plant. "They're focused on politics. They're focused on trying to mess with me."
"This is not a banana republic," the president said of the possibility the U.S. might have to default. "We don't run out on our tab. We just can't not pay our bills."
The president also reaffirmed his determination not to bargain with Congress over raising the debt ceiling.
"I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States," he declared to cheers from his crowd.
He demanded that Congress fund the government and raise the debt ceiling with "no obstruction, no games, no holding the economy hostage if you don't get 100 percent of what you want."
Watch a clip of the speech below:
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