David Plouffe: We ‘Probably’ Accommodated GOP Too Much In 2011

David Plouffe walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington as they accompany President Barack Obama to Chicago, Thursday, April 14, 2011.
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A former top adviser to President Barack Obama admitted last week that the White House made too many concessions to Republicans during the previous debt limit crisis in 2011.

“Looking back on it, we probably did too much accommodating to them,” David Plouffe told the Wall Street Journal. “The only way this is going to be resolved, both the shutdown and the next round, the debt ceiling, is going to be [Republicans] relenting.”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) famously bragged that he landed “98 percent” of what he wanted during the previous debt ceiling negotiations. With another showdown looming, Obama has said repeatedly that he will not negotiate this time around, imploring Boehner and Republicans to simply raise the debt limit by the mid-October deadline.

Failure by Congress to increase the country’s borrowing limit by Oct. 17 could cause the United States to default on its debt, an outcome that may trigger economic turmoil. 

A Boehner spokesman argued Monday that a debt ceiling increase could not pass the House or the Senate unless it includes other reforms. 

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