End 'three-ring circus', urges Obama

President Barack Obama has described the fight over raising the limit on government borrowing and avoiding default on US debt as a “partisan three-ring circus” and blamed the crisis on the refusal of many Republican politicians to compromise.

In a hastily arranged nationally televised speech last night, he said the US was dangerously close to default, and warned of a “reckless and irresponsible” outcome without a compromise solution by the August 2 deadline.