Obama to Boehner: Would Rather "Default" Than Negotiate-71% of GOP Voters Support Shutdown

President Obama is continuing his stubborn refusal to negotiate on a funding bill or the debt ceiling. This morning he called speaker Boehner to reiterate his "I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue, But I'm not going to talk" position.

“The president called the speaker again today to reiterate that he won't negotiate on a government funding bill or debt limit increase," Brendan Buck, an aide to Boehner, said in a statement.

“There's never been a president in our history that did not negotiate over the debt limit. Never. Not once,” Boehner said.

If the president continues his stubbornness the federal government will go over the debt ceiling in approximately nine days.  Despite what Obama claims, even if we go over the debt ceiling we cannot default. Legally the treasury has to pay its obligations, in this case the interest on our debt. According to Senator Rand Paul we bring in $250 billion in taxes every month, since our interest payment is $20 billion there is plenty of available cash to avoid "default"

Its interesting that the president continues his "stiff-necked" position despite the fact the latest polls show Americans are almost as unhappy with him as they are with the GOP.  The latest CNN poll reports things are not as one-sided as predicted.

According to the poll, 63% of those questioned say they are angry at the Republicans for the way they have handled the shutdown.

"But the Democrats are not getting off scot-free. Fifty-seven percent of Americans are also angry at the way the Democrats are dealing with the shutdown. And a 53% majority say they are also angry at President Obama," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "It looks like there is more than enough blame to go around and both parties are being hurt by the shutdown."

Today's Rasmussen results show the nation is split on what to do next:

Fifty-one percent (51%) of voters would rather have Congress end the shutdown by authorizing spending for the health care law at existing levels. Forty-one percent (41%) would rather continue the shutdown until spending for the law is cut.  

But it is the Democratic party driving that 51% number

Eighty-two percent (82%) of Democrats want to end the shutdown by continuing spending for the health care law at current levels. But 71% of GOP voters would rather keep the shutdown going until the law is defunded. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 47% favor continuing the shutdown, while nearly as many (44%) want to end it.

Obama and his fellow progressives contend that it is a small segment of the Republican party driving the GOP strategy. If 71% is a small segment, I would hate to see what the call big. With this kind of backing for their strategy it will be a long time before the GOP side passes a "clean" CR.