President Obama this morning addressed the nation for the second time since the shutdown-ending and default-avoiding deal came together (and for the first time since the House passed it late last night). The president’s remarks were largely what you’d expect—“there are no winners here,” etc.—but he did offer up this noteworthy rebuke to the Republicans who used the budget and debt ceiling to demand changes to Obamacare:
So let’s work together to make government work better instead of treating it like an enemy or purposely making it work worse. That’s not what the founders of this nation envisioned when they gave us the gift of self-government. You don’t like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don’t break it. Don’t break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That’s not being faithful to what this country’s about.
It’s a safe bet that line will fire up both sides of the aisle. You can read the full transcript of the president’s remarks here, including the part where he tells you all to stop listening to the “bloggers” (advice that the Slatest recommends you ignore!).
Follow @JoshVoorhees and the rest of the @slatest team on Twitter, and read the rest of Slate’s coverage of the government shutdown.
