has already passed. that vote could take place today, shutdown would be over. then serious negotiations could proceed around every item in the budget. now, sps congress votes to reopen the government, it s also got to vote to meet our country s commitments and pay our bills and raise the debt ceiling. because as reckless as a government shutdown is, the economic shutdown caused by america defaulting, would be dramatically worse. i want to talk about this for a minute because even though people can see and feel the effects of a government shutdown, they are already experiencing it right now, there are still some people out there who don t believe that default is a real thing. we ve been hearing that from some republicans in congress that default would not be a big deal. let me explain this.
it. if you re concerned about long term debt, that s a good thing to be concerned about. but.n don t pretend that americ is going bankrupt at a time when the deficits have been cut in half. that s what the american people expect, just civility, common sense, give a take and compromise. those aren t dirty words, there s nothing wrong with them. and you know, i think the american people understand, i may i have flaws. michelle will tell you. one of them is not that i m unwilling to compromise. i ve been willing to compromise my entire political career. and i don t believe that i have the answers to everything and it s my way or the highway. but i m not going to breach a basic principle that would
the difficulties of trying to scramble and figure out where your kids are going to be when you re going to work. but it doesn t solve the broader problems. if we were going to real negotiations, the democrats would say, let s solve the bigger problem. what about the thousands who have been hurt by sequester? the democrats aren t making that demand right now, we understand there s going to have to be give and take. we re saying don t hurt more people while we re trying to resolve these differences. let s just at least make sure that we keep the lights on while we re having these conversations. [ inaudible ] absolutely. how we ve always done it. roberta. you ve talked about the hint to credibility around the world that the impasse has caused. i m wondering what you and your administration are telling foreign competitors, china and japan calling and asking about
they think are important. but, i also told him that having such a conversation talks, negotiations, shouldn t require hanging the threats of a government shutdown or economic chaos over the heads of the american people. think about it this way, the american people do not get to demand a ransom for doing their jobs. you don t get a chance to call your bank and say i m not going to pay my mortgage this month unless you throw in a new car and xbox. if you re in negotiations around buying somebody s house, you don t get to say, well let s talk about the price i m going to pay and you don t give me price, i m going to burn down your house. that s not how negotiations work and how it happens in business, not how it happens in private life. in the same way, members of congress and the house republicans in particular don t
weaken the presidency, change our democracy and do great damage to ordinary people just in order to go along with what the house republicans are talking about. okay. ask specifically about china and i m wondering what it says our loss, their gain. i m sure the chinese don t mind that i m not there right now. in the sense that there are areas where we have differences and they can present their point of view and not get as much of push back if i were there. although secretary of state kerry is there and i m sure he s doing a great job. i ve also said that our cooperation with china is not a zero sum game. there are areas where the chinese and us agree. on trade in particular though, here s an area part of what