President Barack Obama, speaking on the five year anniversary of the start of the fiscal crisis, sternly warned Republicans in Congress that shutting down the government over an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act would be the "height of irresponsibility," according to the Associated Press.
"I cannot remember a time when one faction of one party promises economic chaos if it can't get 100 percent of what it wants," President Obama said.
The remarks were referencing Tea Party affiliated Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who have suggested that they would not vote for any budget that did not completely defund the Affordable Care Act.
President Obama defended the health care reform law while mocking the stubbornness of those who continue to try to get rid of the law, according to the New York Times.
"The Affordable Care Act has been the law for three and a half years now," President Obama said. "It passed both houses of Congress. The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional. It was an issue in last year's election, and the candidate who called for repeal lost. The Republicans in the House have tried to repeal or sabotage it about 40 times. They failed every time. Meanwhile the law has already helped millions of Americans."
The event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building was originally intended to help turn the administration's focus away from the Syria situation that had dominated the president's attention over the last couple of weeks. Instead the president had to start by addressing the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard that delayed the event by an hour, according to Politico.
President Obama seemed to be on the defensive as he suggested that the Syria situation had not taken any of his focus off of rebuilding the economy.
"I want to make clear... that even as we've deal with the situation in Syria, we've continued to focus on my number one priority since the day I took office: making sure we recover from the No. 1 economic crisis in our lifetimes," President Obama said.
The president's tone turned combative as he addressed the debt ceiling. President Obama mentioned that the last time the chance that the United States would default was even considered it hurt economic growth, according to Reuters.
"I will not negotiate over whether or not America keeps its word and meets its obligations. I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States," President Obama said. "This country has worked too hard for too long to dig out of a crisis just to see their elected representatives here in Washington purposely cause another crisis."
In order to avoid a government shutdown Congress will have to approve a budget before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
