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# USA
Obama uses Twitter to press Republicans on the debt ceiling
The US president’s Twitter account is being used to ask followers to urge Republicans to reach a compromise on the debt ceiling.
US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama has taken to Twitter to urge his followers to send tweets to Republicans in a bid to reach a compromise on the debt ceiling.
Well, it might not be him personally who’s sending the tweets (he signs them off with his initials), but they are coming from his account. He’s informing the residents of each state, in alphabetical order, which Republican representatives are on Twitter. So far it’s up to Indiana:
Twitter users are being asked to let their representatives know that they support a bi-partisan solution to the deficit crisis.
Obama has urged Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to work together on a solution to raising the USA’s debt ceiling, reports CNN.
The two main parties are at loggerheads about how to tackle growing budget deficits before next Tuesday, by which time a debt default could be on the cards. You can read all about it in TheJournal.ie‘s bluffer’s guide.
Reuters reports that some Democrats wanted Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment of the American Constitution, stating that it gives him the power to simply raise the debt limit himself. A White House spokesperson has said:
The administration does not believe that the 14th amendment gives the president the power to ignore the debt ceiling.
More: A bluffer’s guide to… the US debt ceiling>
Read: Irish people quiz Obama on immigration and hurling as he hosts a Twitter askathon>
