President Barack Obama held a press conference hours after the federal government was put back to work thanks to a bipartisan deal struck at the 11th hour; the President said that "Americans are completely fed up with Washington" after the 16-day-long government shutdown and partisan bickering that has come to dominate the government, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"I want our people and our businesses and the rest of the world to know that the full faith and credit of the United States remains unquestioned," President Obama said.
In the speech the president called for more cooperation in Washington as he proposed creating a long term budget to avoid the potential of future shutdowns. President Obama also proposed looking at the possibility of immigration reform once again and the need to pass a farm bill, according to the New York Times.
Mostly the president urged that lawmakers stop using all-or-nothing tactics that force legislators to govern by crisis.
"You don't like a particular policy, or a particular president, then argue for your position," President Obama. "Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don't break it."
While much of Washington was trying to figure out who the winners and losers were from the government shutdown, many arguing that the Republican Party took the hardest hit, the president contended that the entire country lost because of the shutdown.
"Let's be clear, there are no winners here," President Obama said. "These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage on our economy. We don't know yet the full scope of the damage, but every analyst out there believes it's slowed our growth.
"We know that families have gone without paychecks or services they depend on," President Obama continued. "We know that potential homebuyers have gotten fewer mortgages and small-business loans have been put on hold."
President Obama also said that even though the United States was able to avoid default on any of its debts damage was still done to the nation's standing in the international community.
"Some of the same folks who pushed for the shutdown and threatened default claim their actions were needed to get America back on the right track, to make sure we're strong," President Obama said. "But probably nothing has done more damage to America's credibility in the world, our standing with other countries, than the spectacle that we've seen these past several weeks. It's encouraged our enemies, it's emboldened our competitors, and it's depressed our friends, who look to us for steady leadership."
A full transcript of President Obama's remarks can be read at the Washington Post.
