Fox Business is reporting that "officials from the Obama Administration" placed calls to "top executives at major U.S. banks" over the weekend assuring them that the administration will act unilaterally to prevent a default if an agreement isn't reached on extending the debt ceiling. According to one "senior banking official," White House officials say that while Obama intervening would take the threat of default "off the table," a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating remains will be "a real possibility for no other reason than S&P and Moody's have to cover (themselves) since they've been speaking out on the debt cap so much."

Obama would invoke the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own, a course of action Bill Clinton told ABC News he would pursue "without hesitation" if he was president. Politico notes Obama at least appeared to entertain the idea today during a speech to the National Council of La Raza, saying "the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting," before adding "that's not how our system works, that's not how our democracy functions."

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Ray Gustini