Obama makes fiscal cliff, debt ceiling case to business leaders

Fun times in the White House. House Speaker John Boehner has given President Obama a powerful weapon by volunteering the information that House Republicans fully intend to take the debt ceiling hostage again, aside from their refusal to responsibly negotiate the fiscal cliff curb. Obama can, and is, using against House Republicans. Today, he's doing so in a meeting with business leaders at the Business Roundtable.

The president is embarked on an aggressive campaign to pressurecongressional Republicans to compromise on steps to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. He will argue to corporate executives that it would hurt the nation's economy to have another protracted political fight over raising the debt limit, the official said.

"The President will highlight why it would hurt our economy and our nation's businesses if we do not find a solution to avoid another debt ceiling crisis, and will ask the business leaders for their help in supporting an approach that resolves the debt limit without drama or delay," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The downgrading of the U.S. credit rating and the stumble in the economy recovery that happened over the last Republican-manufactured debt ceiling crisis gave a massive scare to the business world. That lingering fear can and should be used against Republican intransigence now.