Debt Ceiling 2013: Obama Says U.S. Will Become A ‘Deadbeat’ Without A Bill Passing

President Barack Obama continued to accuse Republicans on Friday, when he knocked them during a speech at a Ford plant in Liberty, Mo., for holding the economy hostage to defunding Obamacare.

Republicans are planning to tie defunding the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, to both a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown and the debt ceiling.

The government will shut down in 10 days if a temporary funding bill doesn’t pass Congress. Come mid-October, lawmakers will also need to increase the debt ceiling, or the U.S. won't be able to borrow money to pay its obligations.

“If we don’t raise the debt ceiling we’re deadbeats,” Obama said. “If we fail to increase the debt limit we will send our economy into a tailspin.”

House Republicans voted for a 42^nd time Friday to repeal or defund the new health care law as part of a 2014 continuing resolution. Obama accused some in Congress of not focusing on helping the middle class.

“What Congress is doing right now is important,” Obama said of the lawmakers’ attempt to fix the fiscal problems. “Unfortunately, right now the debate that’s going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle class families. They’re not focused on you. They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on trying to mess with me.”

Obama warned of the consequences a default. “This is the United States of America,” Obama said. “We’re not some banana republic. This is not a deadbeat nation. We don’t run out on our tab. We’re the world’s bedrock investment. The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable. We can’t just not pay our bills. And even threatening something like that is the height of irresponsibility.”