WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama demanded on Monday that lawmakers raise the nation's $16.4 trillion federal debt limit quickly, warning that ``Social Security benefits and veterans' checks will be delayed'' if they don't and cautioning Republicans not to insist on cuts to government spending in exchange.
``They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the economy,'' he said at the 21st and final news conference of his first term. ``The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip. And they better decide quickly because time is running short.''