WH to GOP: Don't Play Games with Debt Ceiling Vote

The Hill reports:

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Republicans should not "play chicken with the economy" and should vote to raise the debt ceiling quickly.

Carney warned that "the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling would be Armageddon-like in terms of the economy."

Carney also said that President Obama's protest vote against raising the debt ceiling in 2006 while Obama was in the Senate was a "mistake" that Obama regrets.

While Republicans are warning that the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling will not be raised unless Obama agrees to trillions of dollars in spending cuts, Carney said that is "unnecessary" because Obama will underline his commitment to cutting spending and reducing the deficit with a speech on Wednesday.

"We do not need to play chicken with the economy by linking the raising of the debt ceiling to anything," Carney said. "We should do that right away."