From Talking Points Memo:
President Obama strongly scolded congressional Republicans on their failure so far to reach a budget compromise that would avert a government shutdown by the end of the week, instructing them to start acting like "grown-ups" and to stop playing political games.
"We don't have time for games," he told reporters during a rare appearance in the White House briefing room. "We don't have time to score political points."
Obama, who met with Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House Tuesday, said he would make himself available to meet again Wednesday and Thursday if lawmakers cannot come to some consensus today. He also criticized Republicans for saying they don't agree to the $33 billion in cuts that Democrats have agreed to and for including extraneous politically motivated policy riders.
"What we can't do is have a my way or the highway approach to this problem," he said. "If we start applying that approach, that we can't get 110 percent of everything we want, than we're not going to get anything done this year."
