White House urges Congress to raise debt ceiling, strengthen middle class

The White House has urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling to avert a default on U.S. debts, while the country still faces the arduous task of strengthening the middle class.

The White House said in a report released that the last thing right now they can afford is a decision from Congress to throw the country's economy back into crisis by refusing to pay our country's bills or shutting down the government.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress last month that the federal government will reach its debt ceiling of 16.7 trillion dollars by mid-October, urging Congress to raise the government's borrowing authority in a timely manner.

However, Republican lawmakers insisted that a debt ceiling increase should be in line with spending cuts, which would threaten a government shutdown.

The report, written by White House economists, stated how five years ago this week, a financial crisis unlike any in this generation rocked Wall Street, turning a recession already hammering Main Street into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Obama also said on Sunday, during an interview with the ABC News, that he will not negotiate with his Republican rivals on raising the U.S. debt ceiling and the nation should continue making investments in education, research and infrastructure.

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