Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace did his best to remind Obama Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that President Obama’s refusal to negotiate over the continuing resolution is novel. But Lew stuck to his own version of history.
“Congress has voted to raise the debt ceiling 53 times since 1978,” Wallace said. “More than half — 27 times — it’s been linked to something else. And among those items it’s been linked to: campaign finance reform, school prayer and busing and a nuclear freeze. What’s unprecedented is not Congress tying strings. What’s unprecedented is the president refusing to negotiate.”
Lew responded: “You know, Chris, let me be clear. The president has always been looking for a way to negotiate, find that reasonable middle ground with a bipartisan, you know, group of members and senators to do the right thing for the American people. He was — he has — he put out a budget that actually took an enormous step to do that. So the president is open to negotiation.”
Lew’s response is simply untrue — a lie. Obama has said from the beginning of the shutdown that he will not negotiate. Even when he called a meeting with congressional leaders last week, he declared before the meeting that it would not be a negotiation.
Video of Lew’s lies here.
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